Darkest Demon II: Ziva
by mysterywriter94
Summary: Ziva vanishes for five years and returns without a single explanation. What is she hiding? And why does she disappear for long hours without telling where she is going and why?
1. Chapter 1

_Five Years, two weeks later_

"Special Agent Alkynes!" Jamie said with a smile into her phone. Being a newly wed was great.

"Wait, slow down," Her expression grew more serious. She was currently leaving the crime scene with Tony and McGee. Ducky and the others had left moments ago.

"I'll be right there," She hung up.

"What's up?" McGee said.

"Kelantan wants me," Jamie explained. "Shelby got called to the guidance counselor. You can let me out here. My car's down there,"

"Does anyone know where Bert went?" Abby asked Ducky as she walked into autopsy a little hesitantly.

"I believe your son ran off with him…" Ducky replied, searching the table for something. "I think he needs a little attention," There was a shriek of laugher from the hallway. Abby ran out in the direction of the noise. Another fit of laughter, from high up the stairs this time. She ran up the stairs and found Bert sitting at the top of the first flight.

"Gabriel?" Abby called, picking up the stuffed hippo. No answer. She entered the bullpen and found him standing there staring at someone very familiar.

"Mommy, who's that?" the toddler whispered. Abby almost screamed in surprise. There was Ziva, casually sitting at her desk as if she had not been gone these past five years, four days, and three hours…Abby winced internally at her accuracy.

"You need to explain yourself," Abby said coolly as Gabriel ran off with Bert again, forgetting about his question. Ziva looked at her.

"I have nothing to tell you," Ziva said casually. "I merely went abroad and now I have returned. What more is there to say?"

"Maybe you should tell me why you left without saying goodbye!" Abby shouted. "You just walked out of there and didn't even look back…you don't even look sorry," Ziva said nothing. Abby started to say something else, but instead her control slipped away and she broke down into sobs.

"I'm…I'm sorry," she cried out between fits of tears. "I just missed you so much!" She ran off to her lab. Gabriel looked up, forgetting about his game for a moment.

"Mommy? Why are you crying?" he asked. Ziva looked over at him, then back at Abby's retreating form.

"That went well," she mumbled sarcastically.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Sorry for the shortness of that last chapter. I was running out of time and had to end it somewhere quickly so that I could get on with my life. Anyway, I'll go ahead and introduce this story a chapter late…I've tried several times to get this written, but it wasn't sounding right so there was a whole lot of starting from scratch going on over the past few weeks.**

Ziva went off after Abby, ignoring the guilt that was threatening to bubble over and form into words. She'd save that for later. All that mattered was finding out what she had missed over the past five years, something that would explain the toddler upstairs who was a total stranger to her. The child followed Ziva a little hesitantly, sucking his thumb the whole time. She discovered Abby sitting in a chair with her head in her hands, her shoulders shaking with silent sobs that occasionally rose in volume to something somewhat audible but were instantly hiccupped into silence again and again. She decided at least one explanation was in order so that her friend would not be lost in this unbearable pain of betrayal.

"I am not sorry for leaving…but I am very sorry for not saying goodbye," Abby brought her head up, her cries pacified at once but tears still relentlessly streaming down her face.

"I got married, you know," she said thickly, tears falling fast into her lap. "You never came to the wedding. That's my child, Gabriel…I was too hurt to tell him you even existed. And I won't even tell you how Tony reacted when you wouldn't answer your phone for months and months. He was heartbroken. When you left, it was like a part of everyone had died…it took us all so long to recover that Jamie was very reluctant to replace you after the first month of your absence. But she makes a good agent, so don't even judge. Even better, she never left, which makes her a very good agent, because she is not a coward." So, is that what she thought? Ziva contemplated this. She knew she hadn't left out of fear, that much was certain. But even the reason why was too painful to remember so she quickly shoved the thought away and focused on Abby's pain filled eyes.

"I was not afraid," Ziva whispered. "I don't even think I had a choice," Even as she said it, she knew this was the truth.

"We all have a choice," Abby muttered bitterly. Gabriel climbed into her lap, and that was when Ziva got a close look of the child for the first time. His face resembled McGee's so much. Practically a mirror image, with those emerald eyes filled with curiosity and mature awareness not often seen in a toddler.

"Sometimes there isn't a clear definition of a right and wrong choice, Abby," Ziva said. "It's not all black and white,"

"But _why_ did you leave? Can't you just tell me?" Abby begged. She didn't respond, but just looked away as McGee came into the lab and stared in shock at her.

"Ziva-wha-why-_what_?" he choked out.

"Hey, probie, what are you-" Tony stumbled to a halt and noticed what he was staring at.

"I think we deserve an explanation, Ziva," Abby said. Ziva started backing out of the lab, feeling claustrophobic with all the people in here.

"I-I can't," she stammered. "I just can't. I'm sorry, but I have to go," She ran out.

"Don't leave for five years this time!" Abby yelled after her.

"What the he-" Tony started, but McGee elbowed him in the ribs and pointed at Gabriel, who was currently drifting off to sleep in Abby's lap.

"I'm going to tell Gibbs about this," Abby declared, letting Gabriel slid off her lap as she stood up. The toddler blinked in confusion and sleepily looked up at his mother.

"Mommy, I want to go home," She paused and glanced at him. Instantly she changed tracks.

"Alright, sweetie, why don't you go with Daddy, he'll take you," she said.

"Come on, buddy, you need a nap," McGee said, picking up Gabriel and carrying him out.

"What happened?" Tony asked after they were gone. Abby sighed and started to leave. He followed her out to the elevator.

"Ziva decided to show her face unannounced as if no time had passed at all," she explained. "I can't believe that she showed up at all. We were better off just thinking she wanted to be back in Israel for a time." Abby sighed again, looking very close to tears this time.

"I never thought that," Tony protested, but instantly fell silent when he realized he revealed too much. They got into the elevator. Abby pressed the button for autopsy and it instantly started to descend.

"What did you think, then?" she asked lightly.

"I…uh…nothing," Tony stammered. "Nothing at all!" He looked around, scrambling to find something to steer the conversation out of these dangerous waters. "I…so, when's Gabriel's fifth birthday? You never got the chance to tell me." He sighed in relief when Abby's expression went from suspicious to cheerful.

"He turns five in three weeks. Haven't I told you this before?" Tony shook his head, and was about to respond when the elevator opened. They both got out and headed to the door that lead to autopsy. Gibbs barely looked up when they entered the chilly room, listening attentively to the conclusion of Ducky's latest story.

"I have an announcement to make," Abby said. Ducky stopped talking at once and looked at her.

"What is it?" Ducky asked.

"Ziva's back," The reaction was immediate and predictable. Palmer dropped the file in his hand and papers scattered everywhere. Gibbs leapt to his feet and quickly looked around, as if he were expecting Ziva to walk through the door any second now. Tony and Abby were the only ones who remained calm and passive.

"Where is she?" Gibbs demanded, looking ready to wring his neck around anyone who got too close.

"She just left," Tony explained. "Wouldn't tell us where she was going, but why is that a surprise?" His tone grew bitter and resentful, very unlike his usual self. Gibbs whipped out his cell phone and started dialing. One ring, then two and three. A few seconds later, voice mail. He tried several more times with the same result. Nobody spoke. Finally, he cursed and just gave up on contacting Ziva entirely.

"Something is going on here, and I'm going to find out," Gibbs growled. He stormed out of the room. Jamie walked in with her teenage daughter Shelby with a puzzled look on her face.

"What's with Gibbs?" she asked. No one answered her.

"Mom, I'm trying to tell you the bomb threat was all Eric's fault!" Shelby said, oblivious to the tense atmosphere.

"Not now, sweetie we'll talk about that later…what happened with Gibbs? Did someone mess with his coffee again?"

"Worse than that," Abby replied.

"Well, what then?" Jamie demanded. Shelby sighed, growing impatient with her mother. Nobody paid attention to her.

"Ziva won't answer her phone after pulling another disappearance act," Tony said. During all of this, Palmer and Ducky had managed to gather up all the fallen papers and reorganized them back into the file.

"No…that's page four b, it goes over here," Ducky told Palmer.

"Then that means I'll have to start all over again!" Palmer whined, emptying out the folder for the second time.

"Ziva?" Jamie exclaimed. Shelby looked at her. "When did she get back?"

"A short while ago," Abby said, wandering toward the doorway. "I'd rather not talk about this anymore…" With that, she left the room as well.

"Mom, what are you talking about?" Shelby said.

"I don't know any more than you do," Jamie responded. "Let's just go home and have your name cleared at school tomorrow," Shelby tugged at her blonde hair, examining it for split ends. Tony went over to help Palmer with his file organization troubles.

"Fine," Shelby muttered. "Whatever…let's go, then," They left the room together.

"Well, that should take care of it," Tony said. "I better get going…I have to find the ninja before Gibbs kills her on her first day back from the land of mystery and deception," Normally this would make Palmer and Ducky laugh, as it was usually intended as a joke, but the serious look in his eyes forced them to keep silent.

"Has it really been five years?" Palmer wondered. "I barely noticed the time pass by,"

"Five years is a long time for anyone to be gone," Ducky said to him. "I wonder what she was up to during all those months she was…away,"

"Whatever it is, she isn't telling us," Palmer muttered.


	3. Chapter 3

As Ziva walked in, the sight of it all was almost overwhelming. She had not set foot in this apartment for five years. This place served as a time capsule, untouched by daily strains of life. A young girl of about four years old timidly entered the room, pink suitcase in hand. Her dark hair flowed past her shoulders, nearly halfway down her back. The girl's inquisitive eyes scanned the apartment with interest, chocolate brown pools of curiosity that differed from her mother's expression, which was one of vacant remembrance.

"Ariel, honey, there's a spare room down the hall. Why don't you put your things in there?" She nodded and followed to where Ziva pointed, dragging the suitcase with her. Secrets…so many of them. The child did not even know her biological father. Upon questioning about him some weeks before, she told her the truth that he left long ago, shortly after her birth. Ziva thought she would be buried in the overwhelming weight of these secrets. She hid five years' worth of them, which was more than plenty to keep under wraps. Ziva sank onto the couch and sighed, wondering why it all had to be so complicated. All everyone wanted was an answer to their questions, they weren't going to judge her any time soon. So, why did she fear revealing the one thing she held dear, her precious forbidden treasure? Because, she thought sadly, of all the other things behind it. Ariel was only the tip of the iceberg of secrecy on her shoulders. Flashes of Ray's furious face, tangled jungles, and a sense of hopelessness came back to her.

"Mommy, can you tuck me in?" a small voice said, snapping Ziva back to the present day and her remanding tasks at hand.

"Of course, sweetie. Do you want me to read you a story?" Ariel nodded sleepily, rubbing her eyes and yawning a little.

"Can you read me Dr. Seuss?" Ziva smiled, remembering the one kind thing her father did for her…teach her a little English.

"Of course, my daughter," she replied in Hebrew. Ariel's eyes widened.

_Meanwhile…_

"Where the hell is she?" Gibbs demanded. He rounded on McGee, who was just innocently sitting at his desk.

"I don't know, boss," the agent stammered in reply. "She…she just took off, like we said earlier. She may have gone home. I have no clue."

"Track her cell phone," he ordered, going up to Tony's desk.

"On it," Tony blurted, typing away at a faster pace than his usual painstakingly tortoise like slowness. After a few minutes, he paused, frowning at his screen. Gibbs instantly was at his side, desperate for news on Ziva.

"What is it? Where is she?" 

"Ah…you're not going to like this, but she's at her house," Tony said. "I wouldn't advise trying to talk to her yet, none of us could get any answers out of her though it looked like she was hiding something…and you're leaving." He helplessly watched his boss get into the elevator. If looks could kill, Ziva would regret ever returning to NCIS. Abby, of course, was probably going nuts. She would be more possible to calm down and give reason to.

"I recommend you check on Abby, McMarried," Tony said after a silence. McGee looked up at him.

"Why? Abby couldn't possibly know anything," he said, confused. :But you're right, I should go to her,"

Ariel was fast asleep before Ziva had even reached the conclusion of the tale. She was so peaceful in sleep. A perfect little angel. Ziva left the small bedroom and went into her study down the hall. She set her suitcase down and sat at the desk, journal already in hand. Taking a deep breath, she turned to the first page, to an entry from five years ago.

_July 1_

_Ray tells me I cannot stay with NCIS any longer that they cannot be trusted with what he has to do. So, regretting every moment that I did not reveal what I was up to, I simply left. But as I reached the elevator, Tony of course had to stop me. Those eyes of his did not miss much. He obviously knew I was planning something._

"_What are you doing?" he demanded. "It's still early. Come back over here." I shook my head and turned back to the elevator. But, once again, he grabbed my arm and forced me to face him._

"_Why not? Where are you going?" Such searching green eyes he has! It took all of my self control not to change my mind._

"_Away," I said finally. "Just let me go,"_

"_Away where?" he pressed, getting closer to me. "Stop talking in riddles, Zeever, and give me the truth," I internally squirmed with guilt and frustration. Why couldn't he just leave well enough alone, like McGee?_

"_Somalia again?" I shook my head. "Israel?" Another shake of the head. He would never guess my destination…I fingered the Morocco tickets in my pocket, concealed from sight._

"_I cannot tell you," I whispered. "I also cannot stay any longer. You are not to say a word of what you know…however little you find out, Tony. I just can't do this anymore," Honestly, by the look in his eyes, I wished I had remained silent like my original plan. But those eyes…they make it impossible to lock away the truth. I hate the power he's got over me. One glance, one word, and then the whole truth is forced out of me more effectively than it ever had in Somalia. But Tony said nothing at all to this. Somehow that made it worse. I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek._

"_Farewell," I murmured in Hebrew. Then I was gone, far away from NCIS and the life I had been forced to sacrifice._

Ziva shoved the journal into a drawer and hastily backed out of the room. She couldn't let anyone see that, especially Gibbs. He would be so angry…oh, crap, Gibbs! He probably knew of her absence already. He was probably headed here right now, preparing to kill her. She had to offer her apology, and tell the truth. But not all of it. She was nowhere near ready to do that. But she could at least show him the child. Gibbs would be satisfied, and then leave. Rule four was important. She kept to it very well. Footsteps headed toward the door. One knock, then two. Gibbs rarely knocked. Maybe he was willing to be kind for once. She let out a shaky sigh, then opened the door. Her whole future depended on this moment, it seemed.

"I wasn't ready to talk to you yet," Ziva admitted as she shut the door behind him. "I needed to get settled and unpack." Gibbs didn't say anything, but it was the way he said nothing that made her feel even worse.

"Look," Ziva said. "I'm sorry, okay? I behaved very unprofessionally over the past five years, and I am sure the least you want is some answers. Well, its not that simple, Gibbs. If it were, you'd already know everything that happened." Gibbs just stared at her, contemplating her mini speech.

"Tony is the only one who knows anything at all, but he does not know where I went. I only told him where I wasn't going…which did not reveal very much." She sighed. Gibbs glanced down the hall. A light was still on. Ziva froze. He drifted toward the room she forgot to close off to him.

"I…can explain," she stammered as he entered Ariel's room. "Seriously, this is the only simple part of my expedi-absence," Her cheeks were flaming now. She had made two serious blunders in less than five minutes, and Gibbs hadn't even spoken a word.

"Ariel wasn't supposed to exist," Ziva whispered. "After Somalia, I was practically infertile," Gibbs paused by Ariel's bed, suddenly interested. He could sense there was more to the story.

"Talk, then," he said.

"Ray…Ray didn't want me to have a daughter…" She choked on her words. The memory even now…it felt like it happened yesterday. "He ordered me to get an abortion at once and when I refused he didn't say anything. In the morning he was gone, deprived of the son he always wanted." Gibbs gazed at Ariel, evidently looking for any signs she looked like her father. But then she saw his eyes were far away, as if he were remembering something.

"Ariel's no Kelly, but I think she's pretty great," Ziva told him with a small smile. "Am I off the hook?" He chuckled and looked back at her.

"Only if you relay all this to Dinozzo,"

**A/N: Arrg! I wish I could update more! But at least I got this done…R/R! I need some sanity in my life!**


	4. Chapter 4

The next few days were oddly calm, despite everything. But during that time Ziva was very distinct despite the secret she had just revealed. Tony watched her carefully to see if she would lose her slightly downcast look, but instead things just got worse. The more he tried to get answers out of her, the less she would talk to him. So after a week of this, he just stopped trying to question her. Gibbs and the others did not let this go unnoticed and made their own attempts to get Ziva to talk, but they also made things even worse than before. Then, one day not long after all of this, Tony found Ziva in a secluded corner of the bullpen, reading some sort of journal.

"Hey, what's up?" he asked brightly. Ziva glared at him. He sat down next to her and said nothing for a while, hoping it would get her to talk.

"I am reading," she replied, returning to the journal. He decided not to press on that; it was really none of his business, though he desperately wanted answers out of her.

"That's interesting…you know we have a case to work on, right Ziver?" She didn't look at him, taking out a pen and starting to write in her journal.

"Well? Aren't you coming? You are due for interrogation!"

"Tell McGee to do it," she said absently. "I am busy," Tony sighed in frustration.

"You can't just skip out on interrogation, the boss will kill you!" he shouted, leaping to his feet. She didn't even react to this, still acting as if it were a casual conversation between friends, rather than an argument between people who have lost trust in one another.

"I have to pick up Ariel from preschool in a few minutes so I cannot go down there," Ziva explained patiently. "Now, since you are done arguing a pointless matter, I need to leave now," She got up and abandoned Tony, leaving her journal behind. He waited several moments to see if she would return to retrieve it, then bent over and picked it up.

_July 3_

_Ray and I have arrived in Morocco, and it is very hot here. Well, it is July after all, so why am I complaining? Ray told me to meet him at the place he rented soon, as he was unpacking. So until he wants me there I am free to wander. The first thing I think of is Tony, and the look on his face as I left him behind. I feel so horrible about it, but I now know it will be impossible for me to return without causing more pain in everyone, especially him. What about Abby, the sweetest friend I've ever had? She will be devastated to hear that I am gone. I heard her speak of Kate at times…they were the best of friends, and now I will have broken her precious heart all over again. Why did Ray want me to abandon NCIS like it meant nothing to me? Did he not care about them? Couldn't he have just abandoned me instead? That will have caused much less heartache than what I have been given now._

Tony was so shocked that he nearly dropped the journal. But he couldn't stop reading. So, taking a deep breath, he turned the page.

_July 4_

"_Why did you want me to leave?" I ask Ray the next morning as soon as we were both awake._

"_Because I thought you could use a break," he replied vaguely, going into the kitchen. I was seething with anger by now._

"_What?" I growled. "Does NCIS mean that little to you?" He merely shrugged. I started for the front door._

"_I am leaving at once," I declared. "I cannot stay here when I know I could be elsewhere,"_

"_Oh, you're not doing that," Ray said._

_"Why not?" I paused at the front door, my hand on the knob._

"_I will see to it that you want to stay. You know you want to. This is where you belong now, Ziva," His tone of voice scared me a little, but I refused to let it show. I will not let him have power over me the same way many other men have._

"_What are you talking about?" I asked, drifting toward the sound of his voice. He moved toward me._

_When I woke up, I was chained to the double bed, much like a case Abby told me she did with Kate once, with the faithful wife trapped underground until death. I made no move to struggle against my bonds, knowing it would be useless. Ray stared at me, his face completely expressionless._

"_Do you still want to leave?" he said._

"_Well, seeing as I am chained against my will to a queen sized bed when I'd rather be back in America where I truly belong, yes," was my calm reply. But on the inside I was swirling with panic. What was happening? What happened to the Ray I had fallen in love with? This was not like him, to be obsessive to the point he was forcing me to be places I had no wish to be._

"_You will change your mind in time," he said ominously, leaving the bedroom. I struggled to keep a hold on my panic, more confused than ever. What was going on? What was he going to do to me?_

"What are you doing, Tony?" Abby asked. He jumped and let out a yelp. The journal fell to the floor. Abby narrowed her eyes in suspicion and picked up the object which he had dropped.

"What's this?" she murmured, scanning the first couple pages. Slowly, her expression grew more and more interested as she continued reading. Finally, she looked up in shock at him.

"Ziva…did this really happen to her?" she whispered in shock.

"Yeah, Abs, it did. Let's read the next entry,"

Ziva felt around for her precious journal, but it was nowhere to be found. Then she remembered her conversation with Tony and running off in a hurry. Oh no! Tony must have discovered the journal sitting there, out in the open! How could she have been so stupid? Then she thought of the past week and a half, when everyone only wanted answers. She shook her head and kept driving. No, they'd judge. They'd think of her as a horrible person. What Ray said was true. She couldn't just…disagree with him. That would mean she was the liar, not him. But, Ziva needed to have her journal. Yet, there was the problem of Ariel. She started driving too fast again. There was only one way out of this, and it wasn't easy. She had to let them see the truth in order to get Ariel out of preschool on time. Ariel was her only daughter. Let them judge. Who cares? Nothing mattered once everything was gone.

_July 10_

_I was still chained to the bed. But I was well taken care of. Ray was kind enough. The nights were tolerable. At night I would do nothing but dream of everyone in NCIS, my true family._

_I promise to never forget you, Tony._

_I'll always be your friend, Abby._

_Tim, you are more than just a probie to me._

_And Gibbs I know I am not allowed, but I'm sorry. There is no way for me to escape._

The rest of the pages were torn out. Tony could see flecks of dried blood where it had been torn. He and Abby exchanged a glance, and in that moment he could tell they were thinking the same exact thing.


	5. Chapter 5

Jamie casually strolled into the bullpen and found McGee sitting there all alone. Tony and Ziva were nowhere to be seen. Shelby was safely at home with her husband, dealing with consequences of what happened at school.

"Where is everyone?" she asked the agent, who merely shrugged in reply. Sighing in a mixture of loneliness and frustration, she drifted off in search of her coworkers. It was then that Jamie discovered Tony and Abby poring over some sort of small booklet. From this distance, she was unable to tell what the object was. Jamie approached them, relieved to see two more familiar faces despite recent troubles.

"Hey guys, what's going on?" she said. Tony and Abby turned toward her in surprise.

"I…uh…nothing," Tony mumbled, handing the book to Abby, who suddenly seemed to find the carpet very interesting.

"What's that?" Jamie pointed at the strange object in question.

"Ziva's journal," Abby replied, honest as always. "We found it, and saw it had useful information on her disappearance. Could you go find Gibbs so we can give this to him? He's been desperate for answers like the rest of us."

"Alright, but you know he is with Ducky, right?" Tony said. Jamie fiddled with her wedding ring and decided it was nest not to reply. Abby's eyes widened.

"I will go!" she declared, running off to the elevator, mysterious journal in hand. Jamie wondered what information could be so important that it was necessary to hide in a journal from prying eyes.

"So, does Gabriel attend preschool?" she asked McGee, who had just arrived on the scene.

"Yes, the school is called Sunni's Progressive School for Toddlers," Tony headed off for his desk, being unusually quiet.

"Interesting. How is he dealing with being around other children?"

Abby felt anxious for Ziva. What had happened to her in Morocco after she was chained to that horrible double bed against her will? She shuddered, remembering her own experience in being tortured by someone she thought she loved. Absently, Abby glanced down at faint scars that he had caused. They were no longer a burden, rather, now a reminder of a life she wishes to prevent to happen to anyone else. She found Gibbs listening to Ducky's description of the wounds on the latest body. Not caring what any of them thought, she slammed the journal down onto the dissection table, just inches away from the body. Ducky and Palmer jumped, startled by her sudden unannounced entrance.

"I'm sure this will interest the two of you," she said, a serious look on her face.

"What's up, Abs?" Gibbs asked.

"Ziva did not stay away so long by choice. Ray did something to her. I don't know the details. Most of the pages were torn out. But, mark my word, I will find them if it is the last thing I do." Flashes of words in the last entry swam before her eyes. _I'll always be your friend, Abby…I'm sorry…no escape…_Something told her that Ziva was still in danger. Ducky picked up the journal and skimmed the available entries.

"Have you looked at this final page?" he said after a few minutes, holding up the journal for all to see. Abby stared in shock at Ziva's handwriting. A short but decipherable phrase was recently scrawled in there, along with today's date.

_Ariel is in danger, I can feel it._

"Does this have anything to do with Ray?" Abby wondered.

"It has everything to do with him!" Ducky replied. "Did you not read between the lines, Abigail?" She only shrugged in reply, feeling like she was a student in class who had answered the question wrong.

"I see you have taken my journal," Ziva said to Tony when she returned. He guiltily glanced at her and then looked at the elevator, as if he were expecting someone to come running out of there. As if on cue, Abby barreled into the bullpen, her pigtails flying like black streamers.

"Oh, my gosh, Ziva we are so sorry we read your journal but we had to, it was sitting right there, and Tony found it first, and I probably should have stopped him but since it was all so interesting it's my fault, not his." She said all of this so fast that Ziva could scarcely keep up with her nonstop flow of words.

"Relax, Abby, its fine," she replied. "I decided you two needed to know the truth anyway."

"Is it true that Ariel is in danger?" Abby blurted. The effect was instantaneous. Ziva nervously looked around the bullpen and edged toward the elevator. Something had her terrified. Green orbs of worry followed her movements with utmost precision.

"I-I have to go," Ziva said. In the same moment, she was gone. Tony cussed under his breath, but it was still loud enough to raise alarm from McGee.

"Just when I thought we were getting somewhere with this mystery," Tony grumbled, "there has to yet again be more questions than answers,"

"Okay, what's going on?" Jamie demanded. McGee looked just as confused.

"Gibbs should be bringing the journal back by now…" Abby murmured anxiously, watching the elevator Ziva had gotten on just moments ago. Gibbs, with his incredible timing, entered the bullpen and tossed the journal into the air. Jamie just managed to catch it and she started reading the entries aloud to McGee who still was some distance from her. Abby smiled at him, and he looked back at her. Tony could see they were exchanging unspoken words. Despite her anxiety, it was Abby that was reassuring McGee of whatever trouble that happened to be on his mind.

"Well, of course, but if you insist, I will make the according changes," Vance said into the receiver. There was a long silence, followed by a sigh.

"Alright, I'm glad we could come to an agreement," He replaced the phone in its cradle, and once more, glanced at the door. It banged open and revealed Gibbs storming into the office, his cloak billowing at his ankles.

"I already know Ziva is back," Vance told him. Gibbs continued striding up to the desk, undaunted.

"What could you possibly want from me, then, if its not about that?" More silence followed this. Gibbs was thinking of how to respond.

"A child is in possible danger," he said.

"What does that have to do with NCIS?"

"Ziva is her mother," Vance knew how Gibbs got when it came to children. He became attracted to them, much in the way he was to Kelly, all of those years ago. He also knew of his connection to Jenny, who was pretty much his Shannon ever since their time in Paris or possibly even before then.

"What is it you want me to do about it?"

"You're Director. Figure it out."


	6. Chapter 6

Back and forth, around and back…the swirling motion in her head was making her sick. But she had agreed to this, and if she told a single soul, Ariel and everyone she loved will be gone forever. All Ray was doing was shoving her around the room as part of his tests, but as she was already nauseous for no apparent reason, this did not help matters.

"You're my experiment for the future, you agreed to this," Ray reminded her, as always. "I don't see what you're complaining about. I just wish you'd stop babbling about how you are a human with feelings like everyone else. You're not, Ziva. You don't…_feel_ like a person should, or react like a person should. So, I don't think you are a person. You're something else entirely. Of course none of my experiments will end up killing you. I can't afford a murder on my hands…" Finally he let her fall to the floor. The sudden coolness of the tiles was a relief. Echoes of Ray's footsteps faded into nothingness moments later. He was gone at last.

"Ariel," Ziva whispered. Silence was her only response. "Ariel, we have to go," The small child helped her mother up and they left the room together. It wasn't until she started driving away from Ray's hideout that she felt any soreness at all. Light throbbing in her ribcage, arms, and legs indicated the areas where she had taken the most damage. Bruises would form later, but her main concern for tomorrow would be hiding them from others.

"Why do you let him do that to you?" Ariel asked. "Can't you run away?" Though Ziva's daughter was young, she was smart, and questions like this were unavoidable.

"It's not that simple," Ziva said tiredly. The ride home was very quiet. Ziva turned on the radio to take her mind off things, after Ariel had gone into her room for a nap that afternoon.

_Close enough to start a war_

_All I have is on the floor_

_God only knows what we're fighting for_

_All that I say, you always say more_

_I can't keep up with the turning tables_

_Under your thumb, I can't breathe_

_So I won't let you close enough to hurt me_

_No, I won't rescue you, just to desert me_

_I can't give you the heart you think you gave me_

_It's time to say goodbye to turning tables_

_Turning tables_

_Under haunted skies I see you, ohh_

_Where your love is lost, your ghost is found_

_I braved a hundred storms to leave you_

_As hard as you try, no, I will never be knocked down_

_I can't keep up with your turning tables_

_Under your thumb I can't breathe_

_So I won't let you close enough to hurt me_

_No, I won't rescue you_

_I can't give you the heart you think you gave me_

_It's time to say goodbye to turning tables_

_Turning tables_

_Next time I'll be braver_

_I'll be my own savior_

_When the thunder calls for me_

_Next time I'll be braver_

_I'll be my own savior_

_On my own two feet_

_I won't let you close enough to hurt me_

_No, I won't rescue you to just desert me_

_I can't give you the heart you think you gave me_

_It's time to say goodbye to turning tables_

_To turning tables_

_Turning tables, yeah_

_Turning, no, yeah_

"That was 'Turning Tables' by the lovely Adele," the DJ said. "We'll be right back after these few messages. Keep listening for a chance to win a free trip to Europe to see Adele in concert this summer." Ziva abruptly turned off the radio, stunned beyond belief. Vague memories of a piano, and like a caged canary bird, being forced to sing…a tear splashed onto the table, soon followed by another and another. Then Ziva put her head down and started sobbing.

"Mommy? Why are you crying?" a small voice asked.

"It's just…hard sometimes," she replied thickly, wiping her tears.

"What's hard?"

"Everything,"

"I can't go to sleep," Ariel said.

"That's okay, you don't have to take a nap,"

_Tracing cell…_

Tony stared at those two words, silently begging for his computer to give him answers.

_Cell phone is off_

"Where are you?" he whispered sadly. "Ziv, I just want to know if you're safe…" Vance came out and saw that Tony was the only one left in the bullpen.

"What are you still doing here, Dinozzo?" he asked gruffly. Tony rarely stayed this late for any normal reason.

"She vanished. Again." That was all he could manage to say.

"I've got it taken care of. Just go home and get some rest, Dinozzo. We have a heavy court case to deal with tomorrow,"

"But she's been gone all day yesterday and today. Aren't you going to do something about it?"

"I'm keeping an eye on Agent David for now. She isn't doing anything that would be considered out of the ordinary. Remember, she has a child to raise," Tony sighed. Why did he keep having a bad feeling every time Ziva left then, assuming that were true?

**A/N: Sorry this was so short. I don't have much time to write now. But the last day of school is tomorrow, and after that...UPDATES GALORE!**


	7. Chapter 7

The truth was, Vance didn't know what to make of Ziva's recent actions. But he didn't want anyone else to worry, at least not until he could make sense of her last location. Was it his imagination or was she going…underground? It was difficult to tell. But, since Ziva was at home now, he decided to just forget about keeping an eye on the agent for now.

The next morning was mostly uneventful, except for the fact that Abby brought Gabriel to work, and Ziva returned once again. Vance did find her disappearances a little suspicious. He wasn't the only one who felt this way. Tony, Abby, and Gibbs were beginning to worry about Ziva. She looked a little pale, tired, as if she hadn't gotten much sleep last night. Her eyes glazed over within a few minutes of sitting down at her desk.

"Zeeva?" Tony queried quietly. "You okay?" She blinked rapidly and looked at him.

"I am fine Tony. It is none of your concern," And that was all she said on the matter for the remainder of the morning. But, during her lunch break, something strange happened during court. Tony spotted a Banana Republic hat, and out of tradition, as when he saw any unusual hat, he punched her on the arm. Ziva hissed a few curses under her breath, rubbing her arm and glaring at him as the jury started to file in.

"I didn't even punch you that hard," he said. "What's the matter with you?" She said nothing. The court case dragged on and on. Tony carefully watched his partner. She continually spaced out, and it seemed like something was bothering her. Ariel was starting to get a little restless, and began playing a quiet game with Gabriel off to the side, overseen by Ducky and Abby. As the jury left to go make their verdict, some hours later, Tony took this moment to talk to Ziva again now that they had at least half an hour of free time. She was currently sitting with her head in her hands, not talking to anyone.

"What's wrong?"

"I am just tired…please leave me alone," Tony couldn't take this anymore and pulled her toward him. He noticed Ziva's eyes widen slightly in fear.

"What are you doing?" She winced in pain, but he was not being rough at all.

"Let me see you arms," he said. She shook her head. "Please," Still she refused, backing up away from him until she bumped into Abby.

"Whoa, what's going on?" Abby asked.

"Ziv, come on," Tony begged gently. "I'm not gonna hurt you," Finally, she pulled back her sleeves…and revealed dozens of bruises all up her arms.

"What…" Abby looked at him with confusion, but he ignored her. "Who's hurting you? I want to hurt them back,"

"It's-I can't tell you. I wasn't even supposed to show you this," She hastily pulled her sleeves back down.

"Why not?"

"He'll hurt all of you: Abby, Ducky, Palmer, Gibbs, Ariel, even Tim and the Director," Her dark eyes were filled with fear. Tony had never seen her this frightened before. He wasn't sure if he had seen her afraid at all.

"I'm not afraid of whatever bastard has the courage to make the mistake of messing with you. If one of us hurt, we are all hurt. Tell me who this son of a bitch is and I'll make it all go away for you." Ziva shook her head again.

"It isn't that simple-" Her voice was cut off as the jury made its return. Court was in session once again. As a rule they had to remain silent, and speak only when spoken to by the judge.

"Guilty…guilty…guilty…guilty…guilty…guilty…" The judge read off each piece of paper like the word was some diseased thing he had to be rid of at once. Finally, he came to the end of the verdicts.

"Your sentence is twenty to life in jail," A gavel banged against the podium. "Court adjourned," Everyone started to file out, save for the judge and jury, who remained behind to finish up some last minute matters. Tony got into his car and rove back to NCIS completely alone, secretly wishing that Ziva had joined him, but at the same time knowing she would have refused. Why did she have to be so secretive and stubborn? All he wanted was for her to be safe and happy. Was that too much to ask? A sudden vision, of Ziva in his arms, swam before his eyes as he exited the elevator, still alone. A fantasy began to make a home in his mind. Ziva, laughing and whispering things in his ear. He sighed and sat at his desk, trying to ignore these thoughts. In reality that could never happen. He knew the truth. He was well aware that until whatever thing had control of her, Tony would never be able to get any closer to her. So, Ziva would be just as unattainable as ever. Suddenly she was standing in front of him. It was long after sunset now, and weak moonlight streamed through the skylight above his head.

"I am asking you a question, Tony," Ziva said in a frustrated tone.

"Huh? What?" He got distracted by the way the light hit her hair and face.

"I want you to watch Ariel while I'm away,"

"Yeah, sure," he said faintly, watching her leave. Ariel approached him, her dark eyes curious.

"But I don't want to leave," Gabriel whined as McGee entered the bullpen with him.

"Sorry your mother said that you needed a nap," was his reply. The elevator closed, and opened, then closed again. Tony paid no attention to the lazy evening bustle around him. Ariel was being quiet, but then she was a very quiet child. Like someone he knew. Once again Tony thought of Ziva, almost without meaning to. She was hiding so much he thought he could see her beginning to crack under the strain of secrecy. After a time, Ziva returned, looking more tired and out of it than ever.

"Sorry to make you do this," Ziva apologized. "I hope she wasn't too much of a bother," Tony just shrugged. Was it his imagination, or did she look a little paler as well? What was his favorite ninja up to?

Ziva felt so exhausted that she just wanted to collapse into bed, but she still had one last task to do, and that was to get Ariel. Tony looked up at her.

"Sorry to make you do this," Well, that wasn't the right thing to say. She tried again. "I hope she wasn't too much of a bother," Tony shrugged. Why couldn't she just get the words out? She wanted, so much, for him to know the truth, but every time she tried, it was like the words caught in her throat and prevented themselves from being heard by even herself.

"I…" She gave him one last look of desperation and helplessness. He waited, expectantly, for the words that would never come. Finally, she turned away and walked to the elevator. But Tony was swift and followed her.

"It's Ray, isn't it?" he guessed. She didn't answer.

"He's the one hurting you," Ariel pressed the right button on the first try. Ziva sighed, but still said nothing.

"Why, though?"

"That, I cannot tell you, Tony, no matter how much you ask,"


	8. Chapter 8

Blood dripped from the walls, the ceiling, and onto her face. Ziva was lying there on the floor unable to move. The paralysis was more terrifying than the blood, which was of no huge concern. She knew exactly where it had come from. Portions of blasted head were smeared on the walls. An ear, hair, and pieces of flesh were all that remained of the young male police officer.

"_Why did you kill us?"_ a girl's voice asked. The policeman's daughter had come to haunt her once again. Ziva was unable to answer. She knew exactly why. But that didn't mean she had a choice in the matter. Then the broken body transformed into Ray, dark brooding eyes filled with nightmarish thoughts she had no wish for him to reveal.

"_There is no reason for you to even feel concern! They're already dead! You don't even have feelings anyway!"_

And the crypt, always the crypt…its deep purple midnight shadows and silvery, wispy spider webs were burned into her vision permanently. This was where the worst torture happened. Death and disease worthy of Poe's writings were possible here. She struggled to regain feeling somewhere, anywhere, but all she could get out of that was a strange tingling sensation in her fingertips. Blood continued to rain down all over the place. Then suddenly Ray launched himself onto her.

Ziva opened her eyes and sat up, gasping and drenched in sweat. She was so horrified that she felt sick. She just barely managed to crawl into the bathroom across the hall to empty her stomach. Ariel was spending the night with Gabriel and would be back in the afternoon after a play date. For the past three nights this nightmare had haunted her in the worst way. Three days ago she had been forced to kill a police officer and his family. Ever since then she could not get the image of blood smeared on the walls and ceiling out of her head. She took out her phone after brushing her teeth and saw she had one missed call from Tony and a voicemail. She listened to the voicemail.

"Hey Ziva, since we don't have weekend to work, want to go hang out? Meet me at our usual spot. You know the one." Ziva shivered, feeling cold all the sudden. She remembered that spot was dangerously close to Ray's crypt hideout. The chill of terror didn't fade away for several minutes, and even then remained in several concentrated spots as she got a shower, ate breakfast, and started getting ready. The second Ziva got to her car at around 0930 that morning, Ray caught her by surprise and started to drag her toward the alleyway, several miles out.

"Let go!" Ziva yelled, wrenching herself from his grasp. "I'm not going back there no matter what you say!" Ray lunged after her, but she gracefully danced away from him.

"That is where you are wrong. I can do what I want with you…Ziva, you are just inferior. Not a thing you can do about it. Who will hear your shouts, anyway?" _Tony,_ she thought suddenly. He could help her. She wildly looked around, but didn't see him anywhere. They were close to the alleyway with the secret passage. This was where the meeting spot was that Tony had mentioned several times in the past. But he was nowhere to be seen. It was just like him to be late. She sighed and started following Ray to the crypt.

"Ziva? What are you doing?" She turned, but Ray yanked her into the secret passage before she could respond to the familiar voice.

Tony thought he had caught a glimpse of Ziva on his way over, but she was gone before he could confirm anything. Maybe it was just some other girl on the street. There it was, the very bench he had almost told Ziva how he felt about her, years ago. This is where he would wait for her. An hour passed, then two, but she did not show. He waited and waited. The sun climbed higher and higher into the sky. Finally, at noon, he had to give up. He promised McGee he'd go find a movie for their movie night at Jamie's house tonight, along with a few other errands.

"Tony, there you are!" Abby exclaimed when he walked into the video store. "McGee told me to come find you but I had no clue where to look!"

"I told Ziva we should meet up and she never showed…is Ariel at your house?" Abby nodded and brushed a stray hair back behind her ear.

"Timmy's watching both kids and he needs me back there soon. Jamie and her husband are out on a yard sale expedition like every Saturday. Why did you want to talk to Ziva, anyway? Was it about the last case or something?"

"No…" Tony looked away and headed for the horror section. He picked up _The Crazies_ and skimmed the summary without much interest. He had seen this movie seven or eight times already in the past month. Perhaps it was time for something new. He set it aside and picked up _Shutter Island_.

"Kelantan told me he's never seen that yet, nor Jamie. I've seen it twice, but its so confusing, especially the ending, where the guy's all weird and stuff and you never know what really happened." He handed her the movie and walked out without looking at her.

"Was it something I said?" Abby shouted after him.

_In the crypt_

"You need to be more careful," Ray said conversationally, as if seeing Ziva covered in blood once again were only a minor concern. He aimed a kick at her stomach, but this time she was ready, and caught his foot. She pulled him to the floor, very hard. Ray stared at her in surprise.

"You actually fought back," he said calmly, evidently unhurt. He got to his feet quite easily. "Well…you aren't a complete weakling after all. But, however, that was not part of the agreement now was it?" Ziva remained silent and uncreative to his words. What was the point, anyway?

"Was it?" he pressed.

"No," Ziva muttered.

"Now, do you know why had you kill those innocent people just a few days ago?" When she didn't answer he stared her in the eye for a long moment. "I wanted to test your strength. So far, so good. Murder is easy. It's cleaning up the mess that's…difficult. That is your task today. Clean up all the blood and…remains," She shuddered, remembering her nightmare.

"Where the hell are you, Agent David?" The blinking light looked like it was in the middle of nowhere. Then suddenly it was gone. Vance and Gibbs exchanged a glance.

"Someone does not want her found," Vance said. "If only we could find out exactly who…"

"The question here, is not who, but why," Gibbs interjected. "Why do they want her there, where ever there is?" Vance did not have an answer.

"Hand over your cell phone, Ziva," Ray ordered. She obliged without a word, but flinched when he crushed it with his foot. That was her once connection to the outside world. Tony would never forgive her for this. Now, as she bent over the dried blood and started scrubbing furiously, she wondered where her strength from Somalia had gone. It was as if the more she wanted to fight, the less she was able to do so, like her willpower was slowly being sucked away. The work was slow and monotonous. Where she thought days had passed, only a few hours went by in uneven skips of endless work.

"Very good, Ziva. You may go. I replaced your cell phone, but you cannot contact anyone while you are here or tell anyone where you go." She took the new phone, which looked similar to the old one, and started to leave.

"I'm soo excited!" Abby squealed, bouncing around Jamie's house with more energy than usual. "I just wish Ziva would answer her phone so that we could get the kids off our hands and get this insane party started!" McGee laughed and lead her out to the dining hall where several boxes of pizza waited for everyone to eat. They eagerly dug into the pepperoni box just as Jamie's husband came into the room. He was tall, well over six feet, with a flawless full body tan from spending a lot of time outside. By the sound of his accent, it was clear that he was of Greek origin.

"That looks like wonderful pizza," Kelantan said. "Where did you get it from again?"

"Ask your wife," McGee answered through a mouthful of pizza. Abby stuck her tongue out at him and smirked. Kelantan headed into the kitchen.

"Well, the night is young, and Jamie shall be here soon, so help yourselves to anything in the house,"

"Even the pool table upstairs?" Tony called from the hallway. There was faint laughter from the living room.

"As long as you put it all back," the man answered. "I work hard to keep this mansion in good order for any important guests coming by."

"We're not important?" Abby asked teasingly, grabbing her third slice of pizza. Jamie entered the house, looking excited for the coming evening.

"Just saw Ziva headed over here," she announced. "No idea where she's been…she wouldn't tell me anything." Ariel suddenly shrieked and started laughing, from the stairs this time.

"Come find me, Gabbie!" she squealed.

"Don't call me that!" Gabriel yelled back, running up the stairs after her.

"That's strange…" Abby murmured. Tony sat at the table and took a slice of Hawaiian pizza.

"Well, I'm not going to worry about it," Kelantan said cheerfully from the kitchen. "Honey, where did you leave the wine cooler?"

"It's in the other kitchen," she responded. "I'll go get it,"

"You have another kitchen?" Tony exclaimed. "I want to see! Come on! This is so sweet! I've never been that far into the house before!" Ziva came in just then. Abby stared at her in shock. She looked more exhausted than ever.

"Where are the children?" she asked wearily.

"Ziva…?" Abby approached her friend. "What's been going on with you lately?"


	9. Chapter 9

"It is none of your business what I do," Ziva snapped. "Why should I call you my friend if you won't give me the respect of privacy?" She stormed out, Ariel and Gabriel in tow, who had quietly joined her during this conversation. There was a long awkward silence after that. Abby remained by the door, her face a mixture between concern and hurt. McGee went over to comfort her. Tony answered his phone, which had already rung twice.

"Dinozzo," he said. There was a brief silence.

"Well, what is it, boss?" Jamie and Kelantan started putting the pizza away. The wine cooler sat on the floor, right at Tony' side. Suddenly, Tony leapt to his feet.

"Come on over, then…we aren't doing anything," A moment later, he sighed out of frustration and shut his phone. McGee released Abby.

"What-"

"Probie, Gibbs needs us in Vance's office. It's about where Ziva's been going,"

"I have to watch Gabriel!" Abby shouted, running out the door ahead of the two agents.

"Did Gibbs say he needed me?" Jamie asked. "I'm only going to be there a few more days. All my things are packed to leave…" Tony shook his head and left the house with McGee right on his heels. The drive to NCIS was completely silent. Tony wasn't even in the mood to quote any movies like he normally did in stressful situations. All he could think about was the look on Ziva's face when she left Jamie's house. Upon walking into Vance's office, he was not surprised to see Gibbs standing there.

Torture, insult, release, and then it started all over again. Over and over and over. It was all getting to be too much. Ziva was cracking under the strain. She felt sick and feverish now, shivering constantly as she tried to keep warm, with no success at all. The cold was ice all the way down into her bones. Her forehead dripped with clammy sweat as she lay on the bed. Ariel had gone into her room to watch TV, so she didn't suspect anything. There was a knock on the door, but Ziva felt too miserable to even get out of bed. After a time there was another knock. Finally, she stumbled toward the source of the noise. Tony and Gibbs stood there with serious looks on their faces. They meant business.

"C-come in," she stammered.

"Ziva, you look terrible," Tony said. Gibbs gave him a moderate head slap.

"I'm f-"

"No you are not," Gibbs interrupted. "We know where you have been going. The crypt up on the same road as headquarters, which closed over a decade ago and got blocked up over the years so nobody could wander in there again," Ziva sighed and let them into the house, figuring this would be over quickly and she could get on with her life.

"Why have you been going there?" Tony asked. She remained silent.

"_You tell, I kill them all!"_ Ray's voice echoed in her head.

"I don't think you really want to know that," she said hesitantly. "Not unless you want to live…it's better if things just stay that way,"

"Just tell us, Ziva," Tony begged. "Come on, the secrecy has to be killing you," How wrong he was. It was what Ray continually told her over and over that was beginning to create cracks in her shield.

"You are wrong," Ziva said. "You have no idea what I am dealing with…this, this torture…" She suddenly broke off, unable to continue for fear she would break down into tears.

"Where is the rest of the journal?" Gibbs asked. Ziva shook her head rapidly. She didn't want to show him the rest of what was in there. The horrors in there were only second to what she was experiencing now.

"Just show us," Tony said. She shivered again and rummaged through the couch cushions. After a moment, she handed over a small stack of papers, a few of them blood splattered or torn slightly. Tony and Gibbs immediately began to read. Ziva crawled to the couch and lost herself in the misery of her fever, unnoticed by them.

_July 12_

_Finally, finally, I was unchained. And yet my torture had just begun. Tonight was THE night…I had already, grudgingly, without another option in the matter, agreed to it. He wanted a son. Well, I'll give him one, as long as he didn't find a new way to torture me again._

_July 18_

_Life has been uneventful. Ray is distancing himself from me…a relief. I almost called Tony, but had to stop myself. I didn't want him to worry. Perhaps I already had been forgotten._

_July 19_

_Ray left to the store today to get some food and medicine. It is very hot outside today, but I wandered around the streets anyway to get a good look at my surroundings. The old woman next door seems to know a lot of what Ray is up to. I wonder if she is psychic. It is certainly a curious matter. But before I got the chance to ask Ray came back and demanded for me to get inside. That night, he had a long talk with the old woman. The next day she was gone, never to be seen again. I wondered what that meant._

_July 24_

_Life is very uneventful here. Today my thoughts traveled to Ducky. I miss his stories very much. How I could use one of them now. Though he tends to ramble, just the sound of his voice can be restful and relaxing. And there's also Palmer, he can be pretty fun sometimes too. Ray is never that entertaining. He's always the same, day in and day out. And yet I can never tell what his next action is._

"_Get me my beer," he ordered just as I sat on the couch to relax, list of commands completed. I sighed and handed it to him. Ray had started drinking more in the past week, but I decided not to comment on this new habit. It is not like he will listen to me._

"_How long do you plan on staying here?" I asked politely, hoping to stay on his good side for more than five minutes._

"_Why?" he demanded. "Do you want to leave me?"_

"_No, of course not. I'm just asking how long you want to stay in Morocco. You know we could go out and see other places, like South America, or Spain, or even California…" I let my voice drift off. He rolled his eyes and downed the last of his beer._

"_Sounds pretty stupid if you ask me," he grunted. "I think its better if we just stay here,"_

_July 30_

_The only way I can tell time is passing is when Ray crosses off another day on the calendar sitting on the counter. It is my only sign of sanity besides this journal. It is almost August. Summer will end soon. But it is always hot in Morocco. Will I ever get out of here? Alive? Never mind physical and mental wounds, I just want to see NCIS one last time._

_August 4_

_I checked the calendar again. I think I am pregnant._

_August 15_

_Oh my…this is what Ray had been wanting all along. He is so pleased! I have done something right! A first in over a month! We will be one happy family-what am I thinking? The one happy family I have is thousands of miles away from here. Abby. Tony. McGee. I refuse to forget about them, even if they allow themselves to forget me. At least by having my memories of them I can be a little happier._

_August 31_

_Has another month gone by this quickly? I barely notice now. What an irony, comparing to such a short time ago…the pregnancy has not provided any trouble whatsoever. I am healthy, and so is the child. Hopefully he will provide Ray with the joy he claims he has been seeking all of these years. Soon I should start coming up with names, once this nausea wears off and I can think clearly for more than a few minutes at a time._

_September 8_

_Ray took me to see the doctor today in hopes we could determine the gender of the child. Alas, it was not to be. But he is persistent, and he says we will try again next month. At least I have that to look forward to…the mornings are terrible. And the afternoons are so weary. I am tired all the time, but Ray forces me to do all this work to keep me active. I fall into bed at midnight, completely exhausted. Then I have to start all over again tomorrow. Such monotony. Such dullness. Why can't something change?_

_September 14_

_Time is too slow once again. Whenever I think five minutes have passed, in reality it was less than thirty seconds. The clock by the bed appears to be moving at half speed. Ray went to the store yet again. I am tired but don't feel like sleeping. For every time I close my eyes I think of the place I miss most. The memories are blurred slightly. Already I have forgotten Palmer's face. What did his glasses look like? I at least wanted to remember that._

_September 17_

_Ray is frustrated with the grocery bills. But it is not like I can help it. I have to eat more to get nourishment to the child. This kind of life is not easy. He does not understand what a woman must go through day after day. So he purposely forgot to bring in some essentials for when after the child was born and I would start my cycle again. At the moment, this is not a concern, but I like to be prepared for the future because things can change very quickly. So while he was asleep, I snuck out to the late night drug store to get what I knew I'd need eventually. Upon my return, I made the mistake of stepping on a squeaky floorboard. To say that Ray was furious would be an understatement. Let's just say he left quite an impression that night…I feared I would end up losing my child due to all that bleeding. Luckily the gash wasn't serious enough to require a hospital._

_October 12_

_Autumn is here, but it hardly makes a difference in this country. In DC right now, the trees would be changing color and they look so beautiful at this time of the year. I wonder if Abby is thinking about Halloween right now. Does she have her costume ready? Are the decorations up? I do love those black bats. They suit her so well. Doesn't she sleep in a coffin? I can't quite remember. All the memories are starting to blend together like mixed color paints._

_October 13_

_Ray took me to the doctor yet again. The ride home was completely silent. It was not a boy, but a girl. Though I knew he was beyond angry and upset, I started going through names in my head, trying to find one that fit. Finally, when we were back at the house, Ray spoke at last._

"_I'm leaving you here. Alone. Raise the girl. But by no means involve me,"_

_By next week he was gone._

"That's it?" Tony exclaimed. "That's all she wrote?"

"I think you mean that is all she gave us," Gibbs corrected. Ziva moaned and ran off to the bathroom. Neither of them took notice.

"Well…there has to be more!" Tony started frantically searching the couch cushions, but came up empty.

"Just wait until she is ready to give them to us," Gibbs said, heading to the door. Tony sighed and sank onto the couch. Then he remembered Ziva, and jumped to his feet as if the cushion had given him an electric shock. He didn't even have time to think about what he had just read. Tony ran into the bathroom and found Ziva there, curled up on the floor.

"Do you need anything?" he asked.

"Just…go…Tony…I need to be alone," He gazed at her for several long minutes. When it looked like she wasn't about to budge in her decision, he finally left the bathroom.


	10. Chapter 10

The next thing Ziva knew, she was back in that crypt, curled up in misery and trembling with feverish shivers as Ray whispered things in her ear over and over. It was previously discovered that the remaining journal pages were hidden somewhere in this shadowy hell. If only she could find them…before Ray discovered where the truth was hidden.

"They don't really care…but I expect you get the point of that by now. Gibbs only hired you to replace what he lost. Everyone is afraid of you, especially Abby and Timothy. I've seen it in their eyes." She didn't want to believe it. But the more he said it, the less sure she was about everything she knew of her coworkers.

"Don't you know Ducky only helps you with injuries because its his job? And obviously Palmer is too much of a coward to speak up against it…" Palmer being a coward wasn't an entirely new concept, this was easier for Ziva to accept.

"And then of course, there's Anthony Dinozzo, otherwise known as Tony," Ray continued. "You two were never meant to be anything other than coworkers, partners, mere acquaintances. Not friends, not lovers, not even something you thought of in your imagination. Think realistically. Would it ever really happen, especially since he'll never feel the same way?" Ziva internally squirmed, trying to escape his words. But it was no use, he was nowhere near finished with her.

"How many times do I have to say it?" Ray shouted suddenly, pulling her up so she was looking into his face. "They. Don't. Care. They. Don't. Love. You. They. Have. Used. You. But no worries. I love you. I'll take care of you like they never did. I just have to finish my experiments, then I can take you to my place where you'll be happy." He tossed her to the floor. She lay there, too weak to move or respond. Maybe this was all a dream.

"I understand," she said softly. "Can you take me home and make sure Ariel is alright? I really don't feel well," Ray's eyes softened.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I got caught up with things, and for got you were so sick! I'll take you home and watch Ariel!"

_I thought they loved me. I thought they cared. Perhaps things were different than they seemed._

The next morning, Ziva decided she felt well enough to go to work again. She went into autopsy first, for a change out of her usual routine.

"Good morning, Ziva," Ducky said brightly. "I see you are well again,"

_They don't care. It is still an act of some kind._ She shook her head and tried to focus.

"Right, there was no need to worry about me," she replied. "It was no big deal," Ducky nodded in agreement.

"Well, if you don't mind I have some business to attend to. Can't keep this man waiting all day, you know," He indicated the body before him on the table. She managed a small smile and went back up to the bullpen in order to find information on any new cases. McGee jumped a little at the sight of Ziva.

"Ah! You scared me!" he said.

_Everyone is afraid of you._

"Am I really that frightening?" she murmured rhetorically. McGee appeared to not have heard her.

"I brought the kids to Abby's lab, boss," Tony said, coming down from MTAC with Jamie right behind him.

"That should bring down the noise a little," Jamie added.

"Going to see Ducky," Gibbs said, going to the elevator. Tony caught sight of Ziva, but his expression was unreadable.

"You're back," Tony said to her with no surprise in his voice at all. Jamie went to her desk and started clearing things off, putting them into a rucksack that was slung over her shoulder.

"Yes," Ziva said patiently. "I thought it would be good for me to get caught up on things today. Is there a new case?"

"Ah, of course," Tony stammered, getting back into gear.

_He doesn't care. He doesn't love me. We are only coworkers._ _That explains his behavior around me today. Wait, what am I saying? Of course we are friends…aren't we?_ Ziva frowned, trying to make sense of her jumbled thoughts. The whispers continued though it must have been hours since Ray's voice faded beyond any physical reality. It was like his words were permanently on a loop imbedded in her brain. And if they were true, they would be the worst torture she had ever endured since her harrowing weeks trapped in Somalia. Tony started going over what he had of the case so far, but Ziva barely listened, lost in thought about the possibility that she was nothing more than a pawn. Insignificant and unimportant.

"…then, Frank told me he didn't even smoke, but I found evidence of cigarette smoke in his clothes back at the other apartment way out in the woods on the border of Maryland. Gibbs also thinks he's guilty, but Vance insists we need more proof, because the son smokes, so this could make the alibi true. And that's pretty much all you missed." Tony's voice came back into focus, like the volume of a radio being turned up very slowly.

"I'll go ahead and do some more investigating, then," Ziva said, starting back toward the elevator.

"You just got here, though," McGee whined, sitting at his desk. "I'll go for you…I'll even take Tony,"

_Just a replacement to replace…her._ Ziva glanced down at the only evidence she did not belong here. It was a drawing of Gibbs, a much younger version of him.

"Go, then, I don't care," she grumbled, shoving the sketch into a random drawer so she wouldn't have to look at it anymore. McGee and Tony left without another word, still not picking up on her mood. Gibbs went with them, but it appeared he had a different destination in mind than the other two agents. Then again, Ziva was always able to read Gibbs quite well. The scary part was having him read _you_.

"They don't care…" she murmured.

"What was that?" Jamie asked, pausing at the elevator.

"Nothing," Ziva said quickly. She hurriedly tried to find something to do in order to avoid discussing anything of importance.

"You know I'm leaving, right? Today is my last day,"

"I will see you around then," Ziva said with a tone of indifference. Jamie gave her a long look, then left the bullpen at last. She was completely alone. Whatever presence was once in her head was gone now, but she couldn't stop thinking about what Ray had told her, over and over. It wasn't like she wanted to, but sometimes; repetition can cause certain things to be permanently ingrain in the mind. It was like glue that never wore off, worse than an ink pen impossible to scrub off the skin.

"Ziva, I'm talking to you!" Abby said. "Come on, what's wrong with you?"

"Huh? What?" Ziva mumbled, snapping back to reality.

"I was wondering where you had put Kate's old drawing of Gibbs…I just wanted to make sure it was in good condition, because her sister wanted all the sketches to be kept safe here."

_Abby hates you._

Ziva rummaged through the drawer and handed over the drawing without looking at her. There was a brief silence. Then…

"Gabriel, stop doing that!" Ziva's heart sank. That was all she had wanted. So it was true. Nobody wanted her around as a friend, someone to rely on for comfort and trust. All she was to them was something to be used over and over. The misery and heartache was so crushing that she could hardly remain here any longer.

"Ziva, where are you going?" Abby asked. She did not respond. She was long past words now. Ziva continued walking, not stopping to even get into her car. What was the point, really? She wouldn't be able to sit still long enough to make sense of this spiraling grief. One foot in front of the other. Let, then right, then left again. Over and over and over. The repetition caused her eyes to burn, or was it the intense pain that wouldn't cease no matter how much she shoved it away and denied it room in her head? Staying still made it worse, and caused the thoughts to return once more, so she didn't stop moving. Ziva didn't have a destination in mind, or a particular goal. None of that mattered. Only shedding away this senseless pain…she shouldn't be feeling this…Ray would never allow it. Slowly, everything faded away, and her mind cleared. She felt numb now. She didn't think she'd ever feel anything ever again. The sun mocked her previous mood. Cloudless skies suffocated the emptiness and further isolated her from everything else. A cool wind blew, and suddenly, she knew exactly where to go. A place where she would be loved like she never was at NCIS. Ray would love her.

"I'm coming, my darling," Ziva whispered, turning down a random street that wasn't really random at all, but in fact, hidden to the naked eye. Minutes later she was running down a narrow street filled with darkness. Before she knew it she was climbing down the ladder, the rough rope scratching her legs as it shook in a constant breeze that seemed to have no source. The darkness had a sour sort of quality, as if it had been pitch black for far too long in a most unnatural way.

"Ziva, you came," Ray said with a smile.

"You were right," Ziva told him in a low voice, ignoring his pleasant mood with an internal revulsion. Happiness was a foreign thing to her now, as was any sort of emotion.

"Glad you could see it my way," he replied with a confident air. "So, welcome to my little hangout. You can come and go as you please between work days. Ariel shall also be in my care while you are away at NCIS. On one condition." Ziva steadily gazed at him, not even flinching at his intense dark eyes.

"Anything,"

"You are to never stay at NCIS more than what is minimally required for you…it would be dangerous to be overexposed to those traitors. Never make friends with any of them again, or stay to chat about anything not work related. I will know if you do these things." A sort of complex conflict went on in Ziva's mind. There was a small voice insisting that Ray was the true liar that was getting hard to ignore. So she shoved it away with all her other emotions she wasn't supposed to feel.

_They don't care, never have and never will._ As if on cue, Ray told her this to start. Then she knew her fate was sealed. No turning back, no do overs or second guesses. This was to be her life from now on.

"I want you to tell me that you know they don't care, nice and loud. It'll make everything official," Ray said.

"I know they don't care," she whispered, remembering everything that had happened when she walked into work that morning. "I was…am, nobody,"

"But not with me, sweetheart, you're my lovable experiment…" He smiled at her, but she did not smile back.

"Good." He nodded in approval. "No emotion. It suits you perfectly," Somewhere, deep down, something inside Ziva fell away, never to be found again. Her expression, or what was left of it, shifted into something unrecognizable to anyone she knew. Excluding Ray, of course, the one who was unsurprised by everything. Ziva did not think that she was trapped. Well most of her did. There was a small portion fighting back for freedom. But that part was losing very quickly.

"Where's Ziva?" Vance asked Abby. She shrugged, trying to put Ariel to sleep for the night before she drove home. Looks like she'd have two kids to watch over tonight, rather than one. Abby didn't mind, but she wished Ziva would come back. What had she done wrong to cause her friend to run off like that? Work was getting stressful for everyone so it was natural for them all to be a little distracted and only pay attention to certain things and block out others. Maybe Ziva didn't see it that way. Perhaps she thought she was being ignored or something. Abby sighed. Why did things have to get so complicated? Before those five years of uncertainty, life was never like this. It would never have even been considered. But, now, everything had to change when Ziva suddenly left NCIS like it meant nothing to her. Today Abby knew better, but she still couldn't help but feel a little abandoned and betrayed. She supposed it was because she was afraid of losing another friend after what happened to Kate and Jenny. Two great people she trusted, gone forever without warning.

"Well, let me know if you see her," Vance said, breaking the silence. Abby nodded, and glanced at the elevator door for the fourth time in a minute. Nothing. It was almost evening. She sighed again and started for the stairs. McGee had already taken Gabriel home, so he wouldn't be too much of a worry at the moment. Suddenly, the elevator dinged. Abby froze on the spot, a sleepy Ariel clinging to her skirt.

"Where's my mommy?" the girl asked softly.

"I'm right here," Ziva said.

"Nice of you to finally show," Abby said coolly.

"Come on, we have a new home now," Abby paid no attention to Ziva as she left the bullpen again, her only daughter in tow.

Ziva took one last glance back at Abby, hoping there would be _something_ to change her mind about Ray's claims. But she did not get any of that. No, life could never be that simple. She sighed, struggling to gain control of her now dulled emotions. This was an ending of something and the beginning of something else…of what Ziva could never determine. But she felt like something dark and indefinable was wrapping around her mind and clouding her vision, yet everything remained crystal clear as she drove on.

_How I'd hate to admit it, but you may be right, Ray…they probably never cared about me. It is possible that I never had a single friend in there. So why did they lie to me and make me believe my father was wrong?_


	11. Chapter 11

The next morning, Ziva walked into work alone and didn't pay attention to anyone. She quietly started up her computer, planning on leaving as soon as possible. But, as it was only Monday, that probably wouldn't be possible. Last night she had a dream that Ray had injected her with something really strange. But this morning he said he wasn't ever in her room at all last night, which made the dream all the more unusual. She glanced down at her arm to see there was a mark there from an injection. None of this made any sense.

"Gibbs, I discovered that the son, Joshua, has in fact been smoking in recent weeks. The guy's innocent, boss, there's no way-"

"He is guilty," Gibbs insisted. "The needle was found in his pocket!" Tony sighed. McGee walked in, Abby hanging onto his arm like he was her life support. Her face was slightly pale.

"I'll be fine, Timmy, just let me sit down a minute," Abby said. She collapsed into a chair that used to belong to Jamie's old desk. Ziva typed in her password and opened up her email. She started typing an email to Ray, as instructed.

_Ray-_

_Today is day one of being cut off from NCIS. Nobody has noticed anything yet. I will give you regular updates, as requested._

She paused and looked up from the computer screen. McGee was talking softly to Abby, asking her questions. She heard Ducky's name mentioned once or twice. Gibbs was still arguing with Tony about the suspect. Vance had just come out and currently was heading for cybercrimes. Ziva sighed and continued typing.

_I need to know what these experiments are for. Is there someone you are seeking revenge on and you're looking for the perfect form of torture for them? I will see you tonight. Hope Ariel is doing well._

"I'm going to my lab, Tim. Don't worry too much, you'll age faster," Abby kissed her husband on the forehead and went to the stairwell.

_They really don't notice me,_ Ziva thought, sending the email._ But why? I'm just as much of a friend to them as they are to me. Aren't I?_

Several more minutes passed in this fashion, the whole time, Ziva was arguing with herself, trying to determine what Ray had said was true or not.

"Ziva, I need you down in interrogation," Gibbs said. She stood up and stepped around her desk. Abby nearly knocked her over running by.

"Watch it!" Ziva snapped, brushing herself off. McGee gave her an apologetic glance, then ran after Abby.

"I told you to stay home today!" he yelled. Ziva rubbed her arm, wondering what the injection had done to her. At that same moment, she broke out into violent coughs that caused her throat to hurt a lot.

"You okay?" Tony asked.

"I am fine," Ziva murmured, not looking at him.

_Tony…doesn't love you. Just get over it._ As she started for the elevator, she broke out into another coughing fit. Tony went up to her, looking a little concerned. Or was he just pretending?

"Maybe I should take over for you today," he said quietly. "Gibbs won't mind, and I'll probably get done quicker. I just don't think it's a good idea. Ray's probably done something to you, and I won't rest till I find the jerk and end it all."

"You don't understand anything," Ziva said. "He loves me! I love him! Ray's done nothing to me!"

"What about the journal entries? You can't deny the past,"

"Experiments," she replied confidently. "Now, if you don't mind…we are getting off the topic of the case," She stepped into the elevator, Tony close behind her.

"What experiments?" he pressed.

"I believe that is classified," she responded stiffly. "About Joshua's father, is there any other evidence that he is guilty?"

"Oh, right! Walter!" Tony exclaimed, like he had just solved the puzzle. "All I know is that his son recently started smoking, but Walter had smoked for years and years…still waiting for dental results from Ducky." The elevator opened and they both got out.

"Now that you're done changing the subject, what's been with you lately?"

"Nothing-" Ziva was cut off by sudden, violent coughs. She bent over and tried to catch her breath. Tony stood there, feeling completely helpless.

"You should have that cough checked out," he finally managed to say. "I'll go interrogate Walter for you…seeing you like this…" He walked off, unable to finish his sentence. She continued coughing, stumbling toward the closest bathroom to be alone for a minute. Ziva was surprised to discover Abby walking out.

"Oh! Hello!" Abby said, surprised to see her friend down here. "What are you doing here?"

"Hi…" Ziva replied uncertainly, forgetting about her cough for a moment. "Tony decided to take over interrogation for me and I was about to leave in a little bit. I noticed you looked different. Something wrong?"

_Abby hates you. Abby is afraid of you. She is not your friend._ She shoved the thought away as soon as it had come.

"No, I'm fine," Abby responded, giving Ziva a curious look. "Listen, about yesterday, what was with you?"

"I had to go do something important. It was quite unexpected," Abby still looked suspicious, but didn't ask any more questions.

_I love you like they never did._

Ziva really started to believe his words now. It was as if everyone wanted to prove him right today. She coughed, much louder and longer than last time. It was getting harder to catch her breath now.

"I'm going to see Ducky," she muttered.

"Mind if I join you?" Abby offered. Slight hope…is it because she wants to?

"Why?" Ziva asked. "Is there something you need to do there?" They walked into autopsy together.

"Actually, yes there is now that you mention it," Abby said. "But that doesn't mean I can't go along for fun, too," But Ziva was well beyond hearing her, having heard what she needed to hear anyway.

"Right…"

"Ziva? What's wrong?" They paused just inside the doorway, waiting for Ducky to arrive. The more the words went on in her head the harder it became to remain here.

"Nothing," she said. Ducky came into the room and discovered the two girls standing there waiting for him.

"Morning, I just got here. Terrible traffic. Was there something either of you needed?" In response, Ziva broke out into a coughing fit once again.

"Oh, dear…" Ducky frowned. "That does not sound good at all,"

"I'll come back later," Abby said, leaving the room. As Ziva continued coughing, she found a new symptom starting to develop. Sweat dripped down her forehead and she felt way too hot.

"What's happening to me?" she gasped once she was able to breathe again.

"I don't understand. This is nothing like your last illness, and it appears to have had no cause whatsoever," Ducky did a quick examination, but was more confused than ever. He could find nothing physically wrong with her, but it was clear that something _was_ wrong.

"I'll just keep an eye on you for now," he said finally. "After all, Gibbs would not be happy to hear if you suddenly had to stay home twice within three days. You are really needed here."

"Yes, that is true," Ziva murmured. "I am needed…"

"But everyone here cares for you as well, don't forget that," he added as she left.

"I seriously doubt that," she mumbled to herself. Where is the proof in that?

"Something's going on with Ziva," Abby said to McGee later that day in the bullpen.

"I think we've all noticed," Tony spoke up. "She's acting pretty strange,"

"Then there's that cough of hers, plus those journal entries…none of this is adding up. I'm so confused. What's happening to her?"

"Out of what we know, I have no idea," McGee said. "I think we need the rest of Ziva's journal before we can figure out anything else,"

"Smart thinking, probie…but where would it be? I already looked in the living room," Tony sighed and spun around in his chair so hard that he slammed into McGee's desk with a very loud bang that alerted Gibbs to his presence.

"What are you doing?" Gibbs demanded.

"Trying to figure Ziva out, boss. She's confusing us all. Tell me you haven't thought about her actions the few weeks or so since she came back as very un-Ziva,"

"Just don't destroy all the furniture in the process," Gibbs responded, pointing at the dent in McGee's desk from Tony's chair colliding with it.

"You got it," Tony called. "Now if we could just figure out where the journal pages were this would be-"

"I know where they are," a new voice interrupted. Everyone looked over at the source of the noise. It was Jamie, holding a sizable stack of papers, dripping with blood. Her hands were also bloody, and her face was bruised.

"Where did you find them?" McGee asked.

"I don't remember,"


	12. Chapter 12

"The crypt!" McGee blurted. "Remember? She kept going there for some reason," There was a brief silence, during which Tony took the journal pages from Jamie and examined her hands. They were covered in major cuts from…something. He couldn't quite tell what had happened.

"What's the last thing you remember?" Tony asked her gently. Jamie quickly shook her head, tears pouring down her face.

"Can't tell you," she whispered frantically. "Too dangerous," Ziva stumbled into the bullpen, coughing violently and running into Jamie by mistake. Ducky came after her, looking extremely worried.

"What…what's happened here?" Jamie squealed, jumping away from Ziva like she was dangerous. In a way that was true, but by the way she continued coughing, at the moment, it couldn't be further from wrong. During all of this, Abby's nausea had worn off and she was now quietly sitting on the floor watching the scene. Ziva struggled to catch her breath, but just ended up nearly collapsing onto the floor. Ducky held her steady, attentive as always to the injured and sick.

"No," Ziva half coughed, half gasped. "Don't help me, Ducky. You…you…" Her face was much too pale, and it was covered in a clammy sheen of sweat.

"You've been poisoned," Ducky said. "Just let me-" Ziva shoved him away and crawled toward where Abby sat.

"Ziva?" Tony looked back and forth between his partner and Jamie, his former partner, not sure which girl to help out first. McGee took Jamie to the bathroom to clean up her injuries, willing to be helpful as always. Abby curled up into a tighter ball and sighed sadly. Nobody except Gibbs, who stayed by her the whole time. Ducky pulled Ziva up, just as she suddenly coughed up blood all over him.

"Get…off…me!" Ziva growled, stumbling into the wall in an effort to find the stairs.

"I'll help you home-" Tony started, but Ziva was gone before he could finish.

"You okay, Abs?" Gibbs asked softly.

"Can you take me home?" Abby said. "I don't feel very well," Gibbs sighed and helped her into the elevator.

"Seems like everyone's having a bad day," Gibbs observed, watching Tony go over to Ducky and strike up a conversation as the elevator began to slide shut.

_Later…_

Ziva knocked lightly on the front door. After a moment, it flew open, but nobody was there. She shakily stepped inside, still coughing up blood all over her hand.

"You're poisoned!" Ray exclaimed. "How'd that happen? Here, I've got the antidote…wait, wasn't NCIS supposed to take care of this?" Ziva sucked in air, the coughs starting to abate slightly. For now.

"Yes, but I don't think-"

"Don't you see? They don't really care! If they really cared, they would have at least noticed your cough was no normal cough. But I saw right away. Because I love you so much," Ziva nodded, knowing this was true. Ray did love her. And nobody else did. Everyone was just out to hurt her. She was lost in immeasurable pain, constant coughs attempting to rip her throat apart. Blood splattered all over Ray, who quickly got out a syringe and injected it into Ziva's jugular vein. She winced at the fresh pain. Then everything went black.

**A/N: Crap that was really short. But this seemed like a great place to stop. So…read and review, because reviews make me very happy! Stay awesome, guys, and don't forget…oh shoot, I forgot!  
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**P.S. I have made a FictionPress account, and will be posting my first original story within the next few days to those that are interested. Stay tuned for the next update!**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: I just realized…I haven't had a review since I updated my only incomplete Maximum Ride fan fiction. That makes me very sad!**

**Anyhoo, lots of foreshadowing going on here, as you can see. To those who were just a little confused by Ray, Abby, Ziva, and Jamie, this chapter may explain some of it. Or it might make you even more confused. Who knows? But I am certain that I'll try to make it somewhat less confusing, sort of like season 6 of the show Lost, only I will succeed. Hah! Well, on with the story…**

Tony still stood there in complete shock. What had just happened? Everything looked like it was happening at once; he couldn't make sense of any of it. Now, he went over to his desk and looked at the journal pages in his hands. All that blood must be Jamie's. But he also remembered the seam where the pages were originally ripped. Flecks of blood were also there. And on the pages from earlier. Where was all this blood coming from? And what the hell happened to Jamie?

_October 18_

_Obviously, Ray couldn't even live twenty-four hours without me. He came back, begging for forgiveness and saying he loved me too much to leave me in, "any way, shape or form." I am surprised he hasn't noticed this journal by now. Then again, he has no idea where I keep it. And if he has, well, who could blame me? This is the only thing that appears real: reliving it all._

_I hope this child gets the opportunity to grow up in DC back with all of my friends. Then again, as long as Ray is here, she'll never get to. In the meantime I might as well start going through names in my spare time._

_Earlier this evening Ray sort of forced me to play something for him on the piano. I have no idea who Adele is, but she certainly has talent. The next time he is away I will borrow his laptop and look up this song…I say sort of because, in a way, I suppose I still do enjoy playing it, but in another way, at the moment I did not want to but Ray threatened to chain me to the instrument until I obliged. I was in no mood for his games. Well, pregnancy can do that to a woman._

_November 3_

_Obviously, Ray has absolutely no respect for me! He doesn't understand anything about pregnancy! The mood swings, the exhaustion, and especially the morning sickness! Well, he better think twice before trying to overwork me again. I go to the doctor tomorrow. Just a simple checkup, nothing major. Ah, better mention, while he's still away…Ray knows. He knows what I have been writing. You see those gaps? Well, whenever he gets the chance he finds a way to cripple my hands so I can't write for a while. Of course that's when he behaves worse around me and treats me worse than before._

He couldn't go on any longer. His eyes stung with tears, and there was an unimaginable pain in his chest that wouldn't fade. Ziva really suffered there in Morocco, and all he could think about was the fact she had somehow betrayed him. Suddenly, Gibbs was there behind him, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks, boss," he said, his voice cracking slightly. Gibbs always knew the right time to show up. He turned to the next page, having finally found the courage to do so.

_December 31_

_Well, it appears I was gone longer than usual. My hands still ache. I can only write when Ray is away now. He just gets so _angry_…he brought back more alcohol than usual this time, so I made sure to steer clear of him until it was all put away, not even touched. But of course Ray was in the mood for a drink. For the fourth time this week. This had been happening more during my pregnancy. I hope he doesn't end up hurting Ariel. Yes, I named her. Just yesterday the name came to me. It sounded beautiful and unique. Exactly what Father had said about my name. I would do anything to protect her. That is my New Year's Resolution._

_January 6_

_It gets very lonely here. Wonder what Tony is up to…or even Abby and McGee._

He remembered that was the day they got married. Abby looked so strange dressed in white, but she somehow still managed to pull the look off perfectly. She was also pregnant…he sighed and moved on to the next entry.

_January 8_

_I don't even remember what day I came here. Oh. July 3__rd__. Six months already? But it feels like years have passed since I last saw his face…oh, why? I have tried to escape yet again. I am chained to the bed. But there is an addition to this punishment. I am also tied down, unable to move. Luckily I wasn't kept in here as long, but I have no wish to sleep in a queen sized bed alone any time soon. I can still feel the chains rubbing against my wrists._

_January 9_

_My wrists and ankles are very bruised from last night's incident. It is difficult to walk. But Ray told me to go to the store today, so I shall bravely ignore the pain. Unfortunately he doesn't even remember chaining me to the bed like he did. I did discover an empty bottle of wine in the cabinet this morning, so I can easily put two and two together. If that is how you say it. If only Tony were here to correct me._

Tony turned the page more slowly, smiling a little. So, Ziva really missed him in her months of absence. She continually mentioned him in these entries, even more than anyone else. Almost as if-Tony quickly returned to the entry before he could finish that statement.

_January 13 _

_Well, it appears that pouring the last of Ray's drink down the drain was a huge mistake. Now it looks like I'll need to find a way out of this…box…cage…thing. It is quite dark in here. The only thing I've got is my phone light, and I'm using it to write this entry while I have the chance to be alone. Unfortunately the battery is about to_

_January 14_

_Well, so sorry about that. Wasn't expecting to have it die after this amount of time. The charger is not with me. Not that I was contacting anyone…of course, Ray wouldn't allow it anyway. Amazing how Somalia appeared tame compared to him. How did we ever fall in love? Ray is considering marriage now, but I can see it is an excuse to keep me here. Does he even remember his original purpose? With all that alcohol rotting his brain, it is highly unlikely. It is a good thing he's not here. I can say whatever I want to now. He thinks I got rid of my journal. But, truthfully, it is always hidden under the mattress, where he knows I hate to sleep now. So, naturally, he makes me sleep there. The nightmares make it hard to get a good night's rest. It would do him justice if he would have the nightmares, not me._

Tony easily guessed what the nightmares were probably about. He looked at Gibbs, who was reading over his shoulder without saying a single word.

"Boss-"

"Just read, Dinozzo," Gibbs said.

_January 20_

_More time, yet again, has gone by. Nearly seven months since-well now I'm not even allowed to mention it here. Ray really needs to stop being so nosy. Always has to know everything. I felt Ariel kick this morning. It made me very happy. Went to the doctor yesterday. She is in perfect health. That is always something a mother loves to hear about her child._

_February 14_

_Valentine's Day has arrived at last. I only knew this due to the calendar Ray replaced last week. Of course the past dates were just lucky guesses, due to my flawless ability to keep track of time. How slow everything goes by here. It felt like ages just to get to the front door. Then Ray had to point out my ankles were swollen. Another joyful side effect of pregnancy. He advised me to stay off my feet for now, and he'd take care of it later. I am sitting here on the couch now, waiting for him to come into the room again. It's been almost fifteen minutes. How much longer does he need to-oh no, no he isn't! He better not be…I can smell the alcohol. There goes my peaceful morning. I better hide this before he_

_March 1_

_Just found my journal again...wounds are still fresh so blood might get on the page. Doesn't Ray know there's only so much time until Ariel is born? Then I glance at the calendar and realize I'm five months in. There is still time. Too much of it. The wounds, by the way, are from picking berries in a thorn patch. That is what Ray makes me do when he reads my journal. He forces me to do this until I can no longer hold a pen for weeks at a time. It is a very interesting punishment. I admire him for his creativity. The pain is worth waiting through. At least there is something of an event to look forward to in all this boring monotony of day to day routine._

_March 21_

_Need to conserve ink until I get the chance to go out shopping again. In short things are going downhill, quite fast. I am being punished for no reason now, usually when Ray is drunk. Yet somehow it is my fault._

_April 8_

_Finally, I have a new pen. Nothing new is going on, except for the fact Ray is now mixing his alcohol drinks like I've never seen him before. I was reminded of somebody, with the way he expertly made such a familiar concoction a certain Goth scientist put together as a demonstration…_

Tony couldn't help but smile at that, despite her situation. She still remembered them. But she was mentioning NCIS less and less frequently, and even then, not their names, out of fear of being discovered. All this reading was beginning to exhaust him.

"I'm taking a break, boss," he muttered, heading to the elevator. A short walk would clear his head off all this mess. But, as it would turn out, the walk did nothing to help. He couldn't stop thinking about her. Ray did something to Ziva. She was different now, very off. He could see it in her eyes when she looked at anyone. There was an amount of deep mistrust that was impossible to miss. Then again, Tony could read her like no one else was able to. He continued walking, thinking about the crypt. That place sounded horrible, but how did she end up there? He was still holding the journal entries. Perhaps, if he finished, he'd find out. But there was _so much_ here, it'd take at least an hour just to read up to next July. And there was five years' worth of stuff right in his hands. This was Ziva, though, she wouldn't want him to give up like this. So, gritting his teeth, he sat down at a nearby bench and continued reading. From a distance, he was watched, by someone all too familiar…all that could be seen at this angle was a black lace parasol and bright green eyes. Abby was hidden in the shadows. She no longer felt sick, and had come outside to get some fresh air. She stopped, though, at the sight of Tony with a large stack of papers stained with dried blood. Abby silently went up to the agent and sat next to him, knowing he probably needed some company.

_April 15_

_Found my pen again. Ray had hidden it…nothing I could have done, since I was gone when he did it. Fortunately I was out buying extra pens in case something like this happened, but those went missing too. Later I found out a neighbor stole them out of the trunk. Normally I'd be all up for shooting him to death but this is no normal situation I am in, now is it?_

_April 16_

_Another doctor's visit. Again I am assured that Ariel is developing normally and she is healthy in every way. Obviously the same could not be said for me. Going out completely terrifies me. Though Ray is a great frustration for me now, I would not know what to do if he was suddenly gone._

_April 19_

_My fear almost came true. I came home from the store and Ray wasn't there. I panicked for several minutes, then he came out of the kitchen, smelling of alcohol as usual. I sighed in relief. It just goes to show that Ray is the only thing here that is real. Were he to vanish, my sense of reality would too._

_April 22_

_I don't remember what day of the week it is supposed to be…Sunday? Tuesday? Thursday? Perhaps it is Saturday, Ray's only sober day. Yes, that's it, this makes sense now, as his breath is bearable this afternoon. How foolish of me to forget._

_May 4_

_I have tried convincing Ray to go into rehab, and it resulted in bruises head to toe. But that doesn't mean I'm giving up. I don't want him hurting Ariel. I don't care if he hurts me, but my daughter doesn't deserve this sort of treatment. It is already too late for me. I have to do what I can to protect her. Ray called me selfish and forbid me to leave the house with him today. That doesn't concern me, as I need to recover from his violent out lashing a few days ago._

_May 5_

_I went into labor last night and was brought to the closest hospital Ray could find. Now it is only a matter of time…_

_Ariel was born at 14:35 this afternoon. She was the most beautiful child I had ever laid eyes on. At that moment, Ray agreed to go into rehab. I was pleased to hear that. He actually wanted to be a good father. He had some compassion left, I suppose. I couldn't stop gazing at this little miracle. After Somalia, I found it a shock I could still get pregnant at all. There was such a thing as luck…no matter what Abby says about science._

_August 12_

_The first few months have flown by. Ariel managed to start sleeping nights rather quickly. She is a quiet child, which is such a relief for the two of us. She rarely cries. It is a curious thing, but I haven't questioned the doctor about it yet. Perhaps she was a quick adjuster._

_August 17_

_Ahh, how I enjoy being a mother! Ray isn't quite as excited about the ordeal, but he just needs to warm up to it. Only today did I realize over a year had passed since I left that place. Just a fact of life. But why does it hurt so much?_

_September 9_

_I get little time to write in my journal, since Ariel needs my attention constantly. Oh, there she goes again…better go see what she wants now…I am so tired all the time because of this. Not only that, but Ray has gone into his old habit of giving me chores to do on top of what I need to do with Ariel and the house. A full night's sleep is a thing of the past. That is only to be expected, given the situation._

_November 14_

_Ariel is six months old. She's been hitting all her milestones on time, and it is such a pleasure to see her smile at me. Ray is more distant than ever, though he is sober now. I wonder if he regrets his decision. It is possible, as it is next to impossible to satisfy him for more than a few moments._

_December 24_

_Christmas is coming. It will be Ariel's first holiday here. I don't typically celebrate it, as I am Hebrew, but Ray keeps insisting we need to get into the holiday spirit. I decided it was best not to disappoint him._

_December 25_

_Today was an adequate success. Ariel enjoyed the festivities, particularly the tree in our living room. I had to get her to stop playing with the ornaments before she broke one, however. Ray spent a lot of money yesterday and the day before. I hope he liked his present. He didn't say much. Well, he hasn't been talking very much lately anyway, so I doubt this is a huge concern. I like the quiet much more…it is better than hearing his shouts around Ariel. She doesn't really like Ray. I can tell by the way she acts around him. I tell Ray to be gentle and sweet around her, but he never listens to me._

_December 31_

_Ray left this morning. No note, no goodbye…when I woke up he just walked out the door without saying a word._

_January 17_

_I've waited for him to return, but there is no sign of him. Now is a very good time to panic. Ariel is learning to take steps with my help. She is growing up so fast._

_February 2_

_I wonder, now that he is gone, should I return to Maryland? Then I remembered I had no money for a plane ticket to DC. Time to get a job…I could work at that store Ray used to shop at all the time. But who would watch Ariel? That old woman is back. She came over here and gave me some very useful advice._

_April 3_

_Ariel is both walking and talking now. She is old enough for me to leave behind at the day care. I have had much less time for writing in here, but that is because I'm so busy. The old woman's name is Grace. She is a clairvoyant and an empathic…which is unusual. She watched Ariel until I was able to leave her at the day care. I offered to pay her, but Grace just said watching Ariel was more of a favor than an obligation. I couldn't argue with that. She is a sweet child. Her birthday is next month, I realize that now. So far I have saved up $45 for a plane ticket, and I still need over $1,000 just to get out of the country. That is just in U.S. money. I have to save up so much more here since the currency is practically worthless. But that's Africa for you. It is either your friend or not._

_April 11_

_Still no sign of Ray today. Ariel learned to say Grace's name two days ago. Well, if only she could walk with grace this would be wonderful. Well, she'll learn in a matter of time._

_May 5_

_Grace and I are celebrating Ariel's birthday today. I took a day off work to be able to throw a small party. Surprisingly, some of my coworkers wanted to join me. Alice and Brett were interested in the event and decided to check it out. They even brought presents for my daughter. These people are so generous. I still hope Ray will return and get me out of here. I only have $75 in U.S. dollars._

_September 1_

_How could I lose track of time for so long? Especially after what happened yesterday…Grace was found murdered in her own home last night. Alice offered to take over work for me today. I found this to be very upsetting. Who in their right mind would harm sweet Grace? Her grandchildren came over today to play with Ariel. They're hardly more than five, six years old. I'm not sure if they understand the concept of losing a loved one yet. Until the oldest, who was nearly eight, said to me that she lost her dad at age six. Then I decided to tell them. Better to learn this at a young age than not at all._

_March 18_

_I have saved up almost $300 in U.S. dollars. This is taking much too long. I am asking for a raise today. Brett, the sweet guy, was willing to help out. He handed me $5000 U.S. dollars, knowing I wished to get out of the country. Nearly two years have passed by. I thought I could finally escape…until Ray showed up when I went home, money safely hidden in Ariel's little hat. I told her to hide the money, saying it was a game for later._

_May 23_

_I should have known this would happen. Now I'm never getting out of here. Brett keeps asking why I haven't left yet. I am unable to tell him. So I just say it is complicated, which is the complete truth. Yet it is simple. Just grab Ariel and run. She is two years old already. So young. So innocent. I can't keep her around Ray any longer._

_June 6_

_I have slowly started gathering supplies to take my leave. Ariel asked me twice what I was doing. I said we had to move soon. Then she asked why Daddy couldn't come. That was harder to answer than I thought, especially since it left me in tears to have to explain this to a toddler._

_September5_

_Well, I had to start over since Ray dumped out my suitcase last month. It took me four weeks just to find my toothbrush. He has a knack for hiding things. I could take lessons from him._

_November 27_

_It appears that time has warped itself again. Where did I put my cash? Brett wouldn't have given it to me if he didn't know I needed it. I shall thank him on the day I finally get to leave. Ariel was toilet trained yesterday. A good thing, too, because we will be doing lots of running from place to place._

_November 28_

"_I don't want you to go!" was the last thing Ray said to me before I got into his car and drove off. I charged my phone on the new charger. It was of no surprise I never got any new messages._

_November 29_

_Our plane crashed, over a hundred miles off course. Poor Ariel is scared out of her mind. I need to keep her calm for the journey ahead. Of course, we are floating in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean with no way to get to shore._

_December 3_

_Finally reached land. Luckily the emergency supplies kept us alive. We were the only survivors of the crash. I heard Alice was on that plane. Poor Brett. I bet he was devastated to hear the news. Anyway, it looks like we're in Europe. Portugal, I think. This will be a safe place to gather our bearings and try to connect to another flight._

_January 14_

_Ray suddenly called me, saying he was searching for me. I did not reveal our whereabouts. I needed another job so I could buy a new plane ticket._

_February 7_

_Nothing of importance to report, except that I am teaching my daughter Hebrew. She is a quick leaner, and seems to prefer it to English._

_May 2_

_Well, it seems we can finally leave. Ariel did not mind being carried all the way to the airport. She looked tired anyway. I wished she would talk more, though. This silence is a little unnerving._

_May 3_

_Our flight got delayed at least a week due to storms in DC. I hope they're alright…I haven't thought about them for some time. I wonder if this was a way of getting back at me._

_May 4_

_How did Ray find us? Have to run…Ariel is afraid._

_June 18_

_Well it seems we are safe, for now. Lost Ray back in Madrid yesterday. He thinks we went west. So, we shall go east. As an after thought, my only daughter is three years old and she already knows how to pack and unpack a suitcase with surprising speed. We managed to get a plane to California, a place where Ray wouldn't find us. The plane takes off at 0900 tomorrow. Ought to teach Ariel military time with all the other things I've taught her. She is eager to learn. And I'm more than happy to instruct._

_June 20_

_Left California as soon as we arrived, having realized how Ray was tracking us. I kept in close contact with Brett. Guess Ray got to him as well. Wouldn't be surprised if he was the one that killed Grace…_

_June 21_

_In Nevada now. Salt Lake City. Need to take a break from entries for now in case we're being watched._

_August 1_

_Well, finally managed to make it into Kansas. The state of tornadoes. In tornado season. Don't think it's a good idea to stay here. Ariel is wondering why we wander from place to place. I had to lie again._

_November 22_

_Thanksgiving, huh? I almost forgot the holiday even existed. I wonder if Ariel learned about it from television._

_February 11_

_We have made it to Virginia. What an interesting state...didn't Jamie live here once? I tried looking her up, but it says she moved to Maryland years ago. Wonder what that could mean._

_April 24_

_Ariel will be four soon. I didn't give her much of a celebration last time. I hope this makes up for it…oh dear Ray has found us again. And he got my journal. This does not look good._

_April 25_

_Ray and I finally came to an agreement. So, now we live together in Jamie's old house, with Ariel happier than ever. I let her attend the preschool a few blocks down the street. I hope she makes new friends there that will make her talk a whole lot more. I certainly need more laughter in my life._

_April 26_

_Unfortunately, this will be my final entry. Ray does not want me writing any more 'truths' in here, so this is where I shall end things. I have no idea if I'll ever return to NCIS. But if I do, everyone will probably find this. Abby and Tony most likely. They are so…persistent when it comes to getting information. Like me, only in a more intense, excited way. So, farewell…Shalom, my friend._

"Tony?" Abby asked softly. Her voice pierced the silence in a much too loud sort of way. He looked at her.

"I'm fine, Abby. Why don't you go find McGee? He's probably worried about you," She nodded and ran off down the street, her pigtails flying. Tony looked off to the side. The crypt was around here somewhere. He had to find Ziva.


	14. Chapter 14

When Ziva woke up…she realized nothing had changed. Ray was still the same person he had been in Morocco, only a little more loving. He managed to give her the antidote, when all everyone else thought was that she just had a cough. Maybe he had changed. Ray was being so attentive during her recovery, that the past five years almost didn't matter. Almost.

"Could I ask you a question?" Ziva said, sitting up on the bed.

"Ask away,"

"When we were in Morocco, if you love me now, why didn't you love me then?"

"That's ridiculous! Of course I loved you then! I just wanted to toughen you up, and prevent you from becoming one of those softened people. One of the things I love about you is your…strong willed independence. Of course, now, you'll have to depend on me for all the things you ever wanted, because NCIS has never given them to you."

"That is what I thought," Ziva murmured. She didn't say anything for a while, remembering those months she had to live with Ray out in Virginia. So many times she was forced to do this and that, her child threatened the whole while. Ziva only put up with him with the thought that she had gotten so close to NCIS…and now she couldn't even get near them for fear all those memories with them were a lie. Ariel sat down next to her.

"Mommy, what are we doing tomorrow? Ray says you can't go back to work yet 'cause you are sick,"

"What do you want to do?"

"Can we play with my coloring book Ray gave me today?" It was full of princesses and castles from fairytale stories Ziva barely remembered.

"Of course we can…do you have crayons?"

_Meanwhile…_

Before Tony could so much as take a step forward, Abby was back, followed by her husband.

"Tony, wait!" she said.

"I haven't moved yet," Tony muttered.

"Abby told me there was a three month gap in that journal," McGee said, coming to a halt by the bench. "Thought you could use some backup in case things go wrong…you aren't the only one who notices something going on with Ziva."

"Yeah, I agree," Abby said, bobbing her head energetically. "It's like she's distancing herself from us or something,"

"Well, we know where she is, so let's go," Tony declared, starting off in the direction of the dreaded crypt Gibbs had mentioned. Abby put a hand on his arm, causing him to pause.

"Tony, if we don't save her…" She didn't finish, but she just looked at him. Tony understood, and with that, kept on walking.

"We will," he replied with confidence.

"We don't even know what Ray is doing to her, though," McGee argued from the back of the group.

"I don't think that makes a difference, McCautious," Tony said, rolling his eyes. "We're rescuing Ziva whether he's throwing her against the wall or making out with her," He internally flinched at his own words.

"Is that the place?" Abby whispered, staring fearfully at the door they were now approaching much sooner than Tony thought they would. McGee merely shrugged in reply.

"I want to go in first!" Abby said. Tony and McGee exchanged a glance.

"I don't see why not," the probie said, letting his wife run ahead of him. She opened the door and went inside. Tony stopped in the doorway. This place looked too ordinary to be hiding a mysterious crypt used to hide away rotting corpses from prying eyes.

"You sure this is the place?"

"Gibbs gave me the address, and this is it. Just go inside, Tony…or do you really not care about Ziva all that much?"

"That's harsh, probie. She's my partner,"

"But is that all she is to you?" McGee asked mysteriously. "I've seen you go at her all the time." Tony glared at him. How dare the probie think such a thing!

"Really, is that what you think?" he replied angrily. "Ziva's my friend, you know that!"

"I don't believe you are showing it," Tony gave him a very hard shove into the wall. McGee was so startled that he didn't respond, but merely pushed back even harder.

"I. Love. Her." Tony growled, punctuating each sentence with a blow to McGee's gut. He was so focused on hurting the pobie that he didn't care that he admitted his true feelings for Ziva.

"Well," McGee panted, out of breath, "so this is what it's come to…why are we fighting over this, anyway?"

"Must be the heat. Truce?" There was a scream from somewhere inside.

"Sounds good," McGee agreed quickly, running toward the source of the noise with Tony right on his heels.

_Five minutes ago_

Abby stepped into the dark house and was quickly able to locate the stairs that she assumed lead to the crypt. But before she approached them she remembered a rule Gibbs told her during a very intense case. Never assume. So, steeling herself, Abby began a slow descent, gripping her parasol so tightly that her knuckles turned paler than her skin. There was a slight rustling sound from the bottom of the staircase. But Abby didn't pause. She had a feeling that a whole other world was down there.

"Can't we just color now?" a child's voice begged, barely audible at this distance. There was a curve in the staircase. Abby descended even more slowly.

"Okay, show Mommy when you're done," She recognized Ziva's voice. It sounded very maternal…then she remembered her daughter, Ariel. Could Ray be keeping her child here?

"Ziva, go up and check what that noise is. I can't stand shouting from other people," Ray. Abby held her breath.

"Fine, I'll go myself, then…since you are busy with our child,"

"Ariel could never be yours," Ziva snapped. Footsteps approached where Abby stood. Ray noticed her standing there. Abby couldn't help it. She let out a scream, but it was too late. A hand came down over her mouth, warm and rough. Next thing she knew, she was being dragged away against her will. Abby let the parasol fall out of her hand and to the floor. It rolled down a few stairs and came to a stop.

"Abby?" McGee was a few seconds too late. All he could find was her lace parasol he remembered from Kate's funeral.

"What happened?" Tony asked, having caught up to him. McGee picked up the parasol.

"Ray took her," he said, his voice cracking in strange places. Tony put his hand on his shoulder.

"We'll get them both, probie. Come on," Tony led the way down the stairs. McGee followed, feeling a little uncertain about the mission ahead, but willing to do anything to save Abby and Ziva.

Ziva looked up as Ray dragged a very familiar goth scientist into the room. She was struggling furiously to escape, but Ray was very strong.

"Look what Gibbs sent here to spy on you," Ray sneered, shoving Abby into a hidden room and locking the door. Footsteps approached the foot of the stairs.

"Hide, Ziva," he hissed. She obeyed at once. Ariel hid under the blanket, thinking that they were in danger.

"Where is she?" a voice growled. "Tell us!"

"Who?" Ray asked, feigning confusion for the purpose of keeping the love of his life safe from the enemy.

"Ziva, you imbecile!" McGee shouted.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Isn't she with you?"

"No, you have her! You're hurting her!" Tony yelled.

"Really, now, I care for her as much as you do, why would I do such a thing?" There was a brief silence, during which Ziva had to guess what Tony was doing.

"Her journal," McGee spoke up with confidence. "It tells us everything you did to her while she was gone,"

"Journal? Oh, you mean that book of lies," Ray said. "She wanted to stay, as you know. There are a lot of gaps in there, so you couldn't know everything." He clearly recalled changing his method during the last three months, realizing he needed Ziva on his side in order to get her to cooperate. Tony and McGee exchanged a glance. They have been doing too much of that lately.

"Listen, we don't know what you're planning, but what we do know is we will find out," Tony began.

"One way or another," McGee added.

"So, just to serve this as a warning…Gibbs does not play nice when someone messes with his team, and neither do we," Tony finished in a low voice. With that, the pair of agents left.


	15. Chapter 15

Darkness. All Jamie could remember was a darkness so intense that it pressed against her on all sides. Then, not long after discovering how dark it was, a drop of water, over and over again, on her forehead. Drip, drip, drip. The thought of it rove her mad. But Jamie was chained to some kind of chair, unable to move at all. Drip, drip, drip…someone make it stop. She began to grow restless. The one thing that never changed as Jamie continued to sit there was the endless drip. Cold, rusty metal chains rubbed against her wrists and ankles. Drip, drip, drip… she'd do anything to make it stop. It was driving her crazy. How much time had passed? When will this penetrating darkness come to an end?

"Stop…stop…" she moaned, tossing and turning in bed. "Make it stop!" Suddenly, her eyes snapped open and she sat up, much more quickly intended. The room began to spin, and she was breathing very hard. Kelantan peacefully slept next to her, oblivious to her troubles. Three days had passed since that awful time in the crypt. Abby had miraculously escaped yesterday, but the task of rescuing Ziva still remained. Now, she struggled to get a hold of her ebbing panic leftover from the nightmare. It had felt all too real. Kelantan stirred slightly next to her, but did not wake. She sighed and left the bedroom in search of something to do in this large house at such an early hour. It was nearly six in the morning, but that did not mean much, as she didn't work for NCIS anymore. She had gotten a new job at the Book Nook, which was a new bookstore that opened up only a mile out from here. Jamie's phone vibrated from somewhere in the living room, and she ran to go answer it. The caller ID said McGee.

"Hello?"

"Jamie, could you tell us what happened to you a few days ago? I think the same thing might have happened to Abby," The phone fell to the floor.

"Jamie? Hello? Are you still there?" She stood there, frozen in shock.

McGee hung up the phone. Abby silently gazed at him. She hadn't spoken a word since her return. She was starting to scare him a little. Well, more than a little, as she normally would be the one to fill a long silence.

"Come on, we're going to Jamie's house," he said finally. "You don't have to tell me anything,"

"Okay," Abby said quietly. She went into their bedroom to get dressed. What had Ray done to her? He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Gabriel was still fast asleep in his room. McGee called Tony and asked him to watch Gabriel for an hour or two. He couldn't just leave the kid unattended, awake or not.

_Meanwhile…_

Ziva was finally unchained, and it didn't look like Ray's form of torture would work a third time. She was much stronger than Jamie and Abby. She appeared unaffected by the hours spent in there. Ray realized there was one method he hadn't tried yet. It wasn't torture, but this was just as effective to making her submit to his way of thinking. Ray pulled out his laptop and opened up Google. Making sure Ziva was in the master bedroom with Ariel, he typed in "hypnotism" very slowly and carefully, his heart hammering in his chest. Normally he didn't believe in this stuff but he was desperate. NCIS was the enemy and Ziva wouldn't believe him despite his best efforts. Those five years away didn't work, torture didn't work, and repetition of the same words only got him so far. So, as he scanned page after page of information, Ray started to come up with a plan. It was simple, but it required Ariel knowing nothing of this, as usual. He was surprised the kid hadn't asked any questions yet. Well, he'd hypnotize her too, for good measure.

"Mommy, what's Ray doing to you?" Ariel asked. Perhaps she would be first. Ray entered the room and called for Ariel. She came to him at once.

"Come on, I just want to try a little experiment, like I did on your mother…no, don't worry, it's not going to hurt on bit…" Dark eyes, so much like Ziva's, gazed at him with innocent curiosity. Should he do this? Well, it was for the best. But even after the task was completed, and he sent the child back to her mother, he couldn't get the image of those sad eyes out of his head. Ray didn't regret his decision. Guilt was an emotion he had learned to stop feeling long ago. But, something was there all right. Was it doubt? A swirling question, needling at his mind, making him question his motives? Ray shook his head furiously. No. This was to get rid of the enemy. The invisible thing whispered at him again.

"_Now, to get rid of Tony and McGee. They will be back soon to steal what is yours alone,"_ He never had a name. Never wanted one. But, as human nature insists, people can't just go around calling their inner voices "hey you" or "Voice" like an idiot. So, Ray called this…thing Rolex. It suited him. In past years, he had grown in strength, and no longer spoke in broken sentences like when he was with Ziva in Morocco.

"_Just let me handle it all…no need to worry. And after this is over, you and Ziva will be safe,"_ Ray smiled a little. It was easy. A little too easy. Blackness took over, more quickly than usual, much like the time when he was away from Ziva trying to make sense of it all at first. Ziva was the prize he deserved.

_At Jamie's house_

"Honey? What is McGee doing here?" Kelantan asked as he let the agent in. Abby soon followed before he was able to close the door completely. Jamie collected her phone and gave him a startled glance.

"I have no idea," she said in confusion. "Is something wrong at NCIS, McGee?"

"Sort of," he replied with a quick look at Abby, who was currently sitting on the couch not saying anything. "I think Abby here got the same treatment you did with Ray, but what exactly was it? She's not telling me anything at all, and its kind of scaring me," Jamie sighed, realizing this moment had to have been coming at some point.

"Fine…what do you know about Chinese Water Torture?" she asked. McGee's eyes widened.

"I did a report on it during college. Oh, God, is that what he did to you? Then how'd-your hands-" He gestured to the healing gashes on her hands.

"That was from trying to escape," she said softly. "The chains…well, they weren't normal chains. They were embedded with shards of glass. I think I was better off compared to Abby. She will probably come to her senses soon, but I suggest you take her to Ducky just in case." Remembering all of it wasn't nearly as painful as she thought it was going to be.

"_Good, now that Tony is subdued by chloroform, stab him, right there, and dump him out into the street with the boy,"_

"Wait, stab him? I just wanted-"

"_Silence! I'm running this show now. Your plan isn't working quickly enough, so I have decide to take over for you…just do as I say, and Ziva will be all yours within a week or so,"_ The next thing Ray knew, he was standing in a pool of blood with a knife in his hand, sunk deep into the agent's flesh.

"_Wait! Someone is coming! Leave through the window! Now!"_

"And then I also had a nightmare after I fell asleep, so I had no idea when I would have been able to tell you anything, but thanks to Jamie I feel so much better about my situation, it wasn't really so bad after all, it was just…afterwards…" Abby's flow of chatter came to a sudden stop as she came into the house. There lay Tony, soaked in blood. Gabriel was next to him, unconscious.

"Don't worry about it, Abby," McGee said, appearing at her side. He followed her gaze, and also fell silent.

"Call Gibbs," Abby said calmly, but on the inside she felt such horror and panic that it was difficult to remain standing so still.

**A/N: Yeah, so Ray is schizophrenic. Mild case…I think. To those of you who are unfamiliar with the term, its basically a psychological disorder where the person hears voices and has hallucinations and believes them to be real. Sort of like in Law and Order, where the only surviving rape victim was schizophrenic. I think they occasionally end up killing themselves, but I'm not quite sure. I didn't exactly do in depth research, but I thought this would help connect the dots with Ray's recent actions as to why he thinks NCIS is the 'enemy' as he believes. In Law and Order, the surviving victim thought terrorists were everywhere. I just borrowed the idea a little because it interested me. Anyway, read and review…and you'll get a big virtual hug from me! Unless the idea creeps you out, then you will receive an award winning smile from me.**

**P.S. Can you tell if a person is a male or female by the way they write? Just a question…**


	16. Chapter 16

Waiting. That was always the worst part. Abby frantically paced back and forth, her black attire drastically contrasting with the white walls and tiles of Bethesda. McGee sat there, too numb to say anything. Gibbs, characteristically, was silent as well. Vance spoke quietly to Gabriel, trying to explain in little kid's terms what was going on. Jamie and Kelantan were unable to make it, as they both had to get to their jobs right about now. The early morning hour meant the waiting period might be a little quicker than usual, as patients rarely brought in at this time.

"Are you Dinozzo's family?" Dr. Gonzales asked. Palmer blushed when she looked at him, remembering their last encounter.

"Yes, in a sense," Gibbs said, giving her a rare smile. The woman looked at all of them, but finally her eyes came to rest on Abby.

"Hello, Abby," she said. "I see you have gotten along well,"

"How's Tony?" Abby blurted, speaking for the first time since entering the hospital. Ever since Ziva had unveiled what had happened in her high school years, silences were more common for her these days. Not because she was still in pain, but she chose these moments to reflect on her current state in life and where things were going.

"Is he your husband?" the woman asked, eyeing the diamond ring. McGee instinctively pulled Abby closer to him.

"No," she replied, being unusually brief. "May we see him now?"

"He has just been stabilized and is now asleep in room to forty six, just down the hall, fourth door on the right," Everyone started in the direction of where the doctor had just described. Palmer hung back a little. As he had hoped, Dr. Gonzales held him up.

"I hope you had sufficient time to consider my offer," she said in a low voice.

"As much as I'd like to work with you, Doctor, I'm afraid Dr. Mallard will be needing me someday when he ends up on the autopsy table, as so many others have," Palmer said formally. "However, feel free to give me a call if you are one member short of your team of officials, and I will be here as quickly as possible."

"I'll be anticipating your call," Dr. Gonzales said happily, giving him a flirtatious wink before rushing off to the OR to receive a long waited report from one of her interns.

"Mr. Palmer, you are lagging behind," Ducky called.

"Yes, Doctor," Palmer said, hurrying to catch up, his heart hammering in his chest.

Abby closely examined Tony on all sides, hoping to find some forensics to work with, but all she could see was the beeping machines and stitches where she knew the wound happened to be. She counted carefully. Seventy five. That was pretty bad, but surely there had to have been worse situations than this. Her hand flew to her throat. A raised bump was all that was left of that scar from years ago, when Avery nearly tore her throat open in one smooth slash of a knife.

"I'm going to need to go back to our house, Tim," she said finally. "This requires some investigating,"

"Mommy! Take me with you!" Gabriel cried out. "I want to see you work,"

"Alright, sweetie, come along then," she said cheerfully. They left the room together. On the way, Abby started to feel nauseous again for the third morning in a row. She tried to ignore it, but of course it got worse as time went by. The second she was inside, she ran to the bathroom and did not leave for some time. Gabriel grew worried for his mother. He had never seen her sick before, and it scared the five year old to know something was wrong with her. In his innocent mind, he thought the one who hurt Tony made his mother sick, too, and began to grow frightened at the fact that they could hurt his daddy and everyone else he loved.

"Mommy?" Gabriel called, his voice shaking with fright. He heard the sound of someone throwing up. Feeling more scared than ever, he ran into the bathroom and found his mother bent over the toilet, coughing and catching her breath. She looked at him and smiled weakly.

"Did the man who hurt Tony make you sick?" he asked meekly, not feeling so sure of himself anymore.

"No, of course not," Abby replied. "I'll be fine. Why don't you go see if your father is home?" After a few minutes, Gabriel left, but as he reentered the living room, he caught sight of blood, and lots of it, soaking into the carpet. Abby came in, looking a little pale but otherwise completely fine.

"Alright, let's see what we've got here…" She took out a mini fingerprint kit and started dusting the room for any possible prints. Then she took scrapings of the blood and managed to find a coarse black hair amongst it all that she knew was nothing like Tony's, as his was dark brown. Finally, she gathered everything she could from the scene of the crime.

"What now?" Gabriel spoke up some fifteen minutes later.

"We go to my lab," Abby said with a trademark grin. "Hope you like it when Mommy drives fast," Gabriel bobbed his head eagerly his unusually dark green eyes sparkling with a fevered excitement that mirrored her own.

As she drove, Abby got to thinking about how she was getting sick so often, and almost instantly better just minutes later. That, plus some mood swings she had been getting lately. Her thoughts drifted to Gabriel, and how he was growing up to be an only child. None of this connected until she had to throw up in the bushes in the car lot of NCIS. Still shaking, she went not into her lab, but Ducky's, hoping he would give her the answer she needed. Gabriel followed, feeling confused.

"Hello, Abigail. I came back early, but Palmer stayed behind to…talk to the doctor about some…important matters," Abby frowned. He rarely hesitated like this.

"He has a crush on her," she declared finally, having read between the lines much more quickly than most people would have.

"I believe the feelings go both ways with those two. Gossip aside, was there something you needed? You look awfully pale-"

"I need a pregnancy test run," she interrupted. Gabriel mouthed words to himself, looking more confused than ever.

"Well, alright, I'll be needing a vial of your blood, then," Ducky said in a professional tone. Always the doctor of the area, never the patient. Not that he was complaining. He loved his work, and he enjoyed helping others. It was his place in the world. He had known that for years now, most definitely decades. He swiftly brought Abby to the chair he used for donating blood now and then. Abby fearlessly let her arm be strapped to the table and swabbed with an alcohol wipe, clearly familiar with this process. The needle sunk into her skin, but she barely even flinched. A minute later, it was all over. Ducky yanked out the needle and went off into the other room to have the blood analyzed.

"I'll have your results within an hour," he called.

"And I will be in my lab doing analyzing of my own," she said in reply. Ducky guessed that Abby must have searched her home for clues about the incident with Tony.

While everyone wondered and worried about Tony, a certain Israeli agent's mind was quite blank. NCIS was the least of her concern at the moment. They were the enemy. Someone she normally strove to destroy but Ray assured her that he had already taken care of earlier. But there was a small part of her mind, to small to really listen to, that still had doubt. What if he was the lie, and not them? Ziva choked off the thought before it could come to her again, Ray's dark eyes now burning into her skull for a third time.

"Tony, oh yeah, he told me, he doesn't love you," he almost purred in a lazy tone that was irresistible. Especially those eyes…Ziva couldn't help but stare into them.

"I believe you," she said in a hollow voice that sounded like someone else had spoken.

"Without you…I am nothing," Ziva continued, repeating his words like some sort of electronic device someone had told her about, lifetimes ago she had no time or energy to remember. Ray smiled in satisfaction.

"Good. Now, what I want you to do is to go back to work tomorrow and live your life normally, except for what we agreed upon,"

"As you wish, Ray," she murmured. Ariel gazed between them, a million questions coming to mind. All them swirled away before she could ask a single one. What Ray did not know was that the hypnotism did not work as well on children. Their curious nature could not easily succumb to an authority figure. So, the five year old watched and watched, and started to realize that Ray was not a person to be trusted. What she still did not understand was why Ziva didn't get away from him like she wanted to right now. Ariel spotted something vaguely familiar to her. A cell phone. She picked it up and scrolled through names she knew quite well. Gibbs, Tim, Abby, and Tony. Who did she want to talk to just now? Ariel remembered a game from day care.

"Eenie, meenie, miny, mo," she whispered, pointing at each of the four names in succession. After a minute had passed, her small finger came to rest somewhere on the small list of emergency contacts. She chose "Call this contact" and waited through three rings before hearing the other end pick up.

"Hello? Ziva?"

"Abby, come save me," Ariel said, introductions aside. Ray was not paying attention, and this was her one chance to get out of here.

"Ariel? How'd you get a hold of Ziva's phone? What are you-"

"Not much time," Ariel hissed, glancing fearfully at Ray who was now leaning closer in earnest, toward her mother.

"Alright, well I will figure something out. Just hang in there, honey, okay?" Ariel nodded, but then remembered that Abby probably couldn't hear that.

"I will do my best, but I'm scared,"

"Shh, it'll be okay. I promise. I'll give Tim a call and have him break in and rescue you,"

"What about-" Ray snatched the phone out of her tiny hands.

"I believe we already had a discussion about your spying habits," he snapped. The line went dead. Ariel stared in horror at him. He truly was a horrible person. She was reminded of a bully in her day care that always took other people's toys without asking and smashed them to bits. His name was Lou, and he had told Ariel that he did this because things at home made him unhappy and breaking toys made him feel better about it. With this in mind, she did not fear this man anymore.

"Are you unhappy?" Ariel asked softly. Ray looked at her in disbelief.

"Why, of course not," he said dismissively. "Go…color or something you silly girl," She sighed, but did as she was told. Lou was also unwilling to talk about his feelings. Suddenly, she missed that day care a whole lot, even that crazy Lou. Maybe one day when her mom was brave enough, they'd leave and then she'd get to go to kindergarten and see Lou again. And maybe she'd get Lou to tell her what things made him unhappy at home. Ariel smiled to herself and started coloring a mermaid with her red crayon.

**A/N: These kids may be young, but they're not stupid. Agreed? R/R…it's the way to a happy life. Well, for me anyway.**


	17. Chapter 17

Tony stirred slightly in his hospital bed, but did not wake yet. It was currently mid morning, at least an hour since Abby had left. Gibbs picked up the phone on the first ring.

"Yeah. Gibbs."

"Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs, oh I have some news for you!" Abby said.

"Talk to me, then,"

"Okay, I analyzed the hair from the scene of the crime, otherwise known as my house, and came up with a one hundred percent match,"

"Name?" Gibbs inquired, knowing that if he didn't stop her soon she'd ramble on for several long minutes.

"Ray,"

Abby hung up before Gibbs could, and felt happy for being able to do so. Then she saw Ducky was calling her through video. She accepted the call, and smiled at the sight of the familiar medical examiner's face.

"Hi, Duckman, what's up?" Gabriel gazed up in wonder at this fresh piece of technology.

"I have the results of your test, and much sooner than I had anticipated," Ducky said.

"Ah, well that is very good,"

"It came out positive, Abigail," The smile transformed into a full blown grin. The news pleased her beyond description. Gabriel, who was now very confused, tugged at his mother's skirt in a request for an explanation. Finally, she turned to him and bent down to his level.

"Gabriel, honey, how would you like to be a big brother?" she asked sweetly.

"Wow, really?" the child exclaimed. "When can I have my brother or sister?" He looked around in excitement.

"Well, you will very soon," she promised.

"Why not now?" Gabriel whined. "I want a brother now!" She laughed a little.

"Because, your little brother or sister is growing inside Mommy, sweetie," He gazed in wonder at her stomach, wondering what mechanics worked making a person inside someone.

"How does that work?" he asked. Abby merely smiled at him and looked back at Ducky.

"I appreciate you helping me out," she said to Ducky. "And as for Ray…I'll make sure he ends up right where Avery did," He gave her a small smile. The video chat disconnected. Gabriel went over to the other room in search of his Gameboy. Abby realized she had to make one last call. Her stomach lurched, and she ran off in search of a bathroom. No, that would have to wait.

Later…

Tony woke up with his side on fire. Last thing he remembered was a familiar man with dark eyes pressing a strange smelling cloth to his mouth. He had no recollection of being attacked or the past several hours. He carefully felt his side, where all the pain was coming from. Raised bumps were there. He had gotten stitches. Tony tried sitting up, but he got so dizzy and sick that it probably wasn't a good idea to do that just yet. The next thing he registered was that his boss sat in a chair close to his bed.

"Boss?" Tony slurred, still groggy from the chloroform. "You know who did this to me, right?" Gibbs nodded.

"Yeah, you know him too," the man responded. Tony sighed, starting to put the pieces together. That son of a bitch was going to get hell from him. Ray. The name made him shake with impossible anger. That guy still had Ziva under his control. Tony would do anything to get her out of that place. He wasn't being of much help lying in a hospital bed. He tried to get up again, but this time Gibbs restrained him.

"I have to save Ziva," Tony said in an attempt to convince his boss to let him out of bed. Gibbs just looked at him, the man's ice blue eyes piercing straight down into his core. After a minute he sank back into the pillows. Just this small exchange took all his energy away. Tony closed his eyes and let sleep claim him.

"Get some sleep, Dinozzo," Gibbs said, leaving the room.

McGee sucked in a deep breath, hoping that his plan would work out. Ray had just left the crypt, going who knows where. Ziva and Ariel were both in there. Palmer waited a few miles up the road, prepared to cause an "accident" that would end up killing Ray. Or at least maiming him beyond repair. Either worked. McGee knew he needed plenty of time to convince Ziva that he was there to save her, not hurt her. He had no idea what Ray did to alter her mind, but he was certain that under normal circumstances, she would not willingly stay with such a man. Of course, it was obvious enough that this was not an average scenario.

He walked inside, knowing where to find Ariel and Ziva. Down the stairs, very cautiously. A step forward, just like that. Looking around. Searching for Ziva. Then there she was, half asleep on a queen sized bed. Ariel was next to Ziva, listlessly following the motion of the fan above her head.

"I'm here to get you both out," McGee announced. Ariel ran up to him. His legs were practically squeezed to death for almost a whole minute. Ziva didn't move.

"Ziva, come on," McGee called. "Don't you want to get out?" 

"No," Ziva replied in a dull tone. "I love Ray," He was afraid something like this would happen.

"Go get in the car," he said to Ariel. She ran off at once.

"You don't love Ray, you just think you do," She sat up and glared at him.

"You don't know anything about me," she growled. "It's not like you care or anything…everyone has lied to me all of these years, you know."

"About what?" McGee asked cautiously.

"About being my friend. Especially Tony." She said his name like it was a curse.

"Well, now while Ray may believe this is true…don't you let him get to you like this." But he could see he was too late. Ray had swayed her way of thinking days and days ago. Perhaps a week or more. There was nothing he could do to convince her to trust him. Except if she actually had a reason to leave.

"Ariel needs you," he said. That got her moving. Ziva followed him out of her place of torture for countless hours of misery.

Palmer tried to stall Ray, he really did, but murder was just not his forte. Feeling ashamed, he drove to NCIS, hoping for some comforting words from Dr. Mallard. Upon walking into autopsy, he discovered Ducky absently working on a crossword puzzle.

"Hello, Doctor," he said. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything,"

"Of course not," Ducky said, setting the puzzle aside. "Is there something you wanted to talk about?"

"I'm not a bad person for not being able to conform to McGee's plan, am I?" Palmer asked in a rush.

"Plan…what are you going on about?" Ducky looked at him in confusion. Palmer explained McGee's instructions from half an hour ago. The doctor listened in silence.

"Well, I would suppose that your conscience got the better of you, Mr. Palmer. That hardly makes you a bad person." Palmer smiled in relief. He already knew this, but just hearing it made him feel a whole lot better about the situation.

"Thank you, Dr. Mallard. I really needed to hear that from you,"

"Anytime…now, could you help me with this puzzle? I can't seem to remember the last word in a certain quote from the film Fast and Furious," Palmer grinned at him.

"If only Tony were here to help," he said.


	18. Chapter 18

McGee went into Abby's lab after making sure both Ziva and Ariel were safely at home. He found Abby sitting in a chair talking to Gabriel about what was going on with Tony. She paused upon his entry and smiled at him. McGee never could get enough of her smile.

"Hey Timmy!" she said, pulling him into a bone crushing hug. "Have you heard anything about Tony?"

"Think he woke up after I left, but he's fine I suppose," he responded as soon as he could breathe. This seemed to satisfy her, and McGee started to play a little game with Gabriel on the floor.

"Hey, I have some news," Abby said after a time. McGee's phone rang before he could respond.

"McGee,"

"Whoa, did I just call you, probie?" Tony exclaimed. "I was trying to reach Ziva…Abby told me what you were up to earlier today,"

"I don't think that is a good idea right now. Ray's done something to her and now she can't trust any of us,"

"How bad could it be?"

"The only reason I got her out of there at all was because of Ariel." A brief silence. Tony sighed. McGee waited.

"Alright, I'll just stop by tomorrow if she doesn't show up at work," With that, the agent hung up. McGee tucked his phone away and looked at Abby, who was patiently waiting.

"Now, what was it you wanted to tell me?" he asked. She opened her mouth to speak and Gibbs walked in.

"Dead marine out in the woods," he said, interrupting whatever it was Abby had been about to say. She huffed a sigh and collapsed into her chair. Gabriel climbed up into her lap. McGee felt a flash of frustration, but it faded quite quickly.

"Coming, boss. When is Tony being discharged?"

"Soon as the stitches come out, he's clear to leave. Come on, McGee." He gave Abby one last look of apology and followed his boss out.

"I'll call Ziva-"

"Already did. She's coming." Gibbs, as McGee had come to learn over the years, was not a man of many words and always seemed to know what was going on. He got into his car and started to drive off to the woods, Gibbs giving careful directions in short, clipped sentences hardly more than five words long. Other than this, the ride as completely silent.

"Is anyone going to see Tony?" McGee asked, getting out of the car now that they had reached their destination. Gibbs shook his head and handed him a camera. McGee obediently started taking pictures. Ziva arrived on the scene and started interviewing a florist who lived nearby, Ms. Diane. McGee didn't know her well but he was familiar with her store. Ducky was examining the body and telling Palmer about the cause of death for the man-Warren Esttan. McGee approached the victim, intending to get some close ups. Ziva started bagging evidence, but paused about halfway through, staring at something on the ground. McGee stopped taking pictures momentarily and went over to her.

"You okay?" he asked softly. Scarcely an hour had passed since her return from the crypt.

"What is that?" she asked, pointing at a mangled piece of plastic. McGee picked up the strange object and examined it on all sides. It was blue, but the logo was hard to determine, as the thing had been stepped on several times.

"I'm not sure. Bag it, Ziver, Abby can figure it out," He thought he heard her sigh before moving back over to where Ducky still stood with Palmer.

"Warren here was with the military for many years before joining the naval forces," a voice said. McGee turned, attempting to put a name to the voice. It was Tobias Fornell, a close friend of Gibbs's who worked with the FBI.

"Hello," McGee said. "What are you doing here?"

"We suspect a well known killer may have been after this fellow," Ducky spoke up, having just joined the group. Palmer worked in the background, starting to bag up the body and load it into the van.

"What evidence do you have of this?" McGee asked, taking out a notepad and pen.

"First of all there is a familiar pattern I remember from several years ago," Fornell began.

"Steve Hamilton," Gibbs put in, who had been standing there the whole time overseeing the events unfolding before him. Fornell nodded in agreement; that guy was the victim on a previous case they had done together.

"Did we ever catch him?" McGee inquired with interest.

"Sadly, no. Remember, we had too few leads to pinpoint a specific person. It was between the mother, boy, and father, and yet none of them could have possible done it."

"Well, go ahead and start naming leads and the pattern. I bet I can put the pieces together,"

"The pattern is these guys used to be high up in the military, like we suspect the killer was-before something happened…"

"How do you know this, when we don't even have a name?"

"I believe the killings were made out of jealousy," Ducky interjected. "Perhaps the killer was hoping to gain a higher position out of destroying these two men?"

"Or maybe they had information," McGee suggested, starting to take notes. He told them about the piece of plastic Ziva had found earlier.

"Sounds like a Bluetooth," Fornell commented. "I use one of those. I will send one in to Abby so she can compare," McGee nodded but did not look up from his notepad.

"So, I guess we're done here?" Gibbs motioned toward the car, which Ziva was already getting into. She must have given Palmer all the evidence, as she was empty handed. McGee drove his own car back, completely alone and entirely silent.

Abby wandered around NCIS, looking for something to do. She had dropped Gabriel off at Jamie's house when he became too much of a distraction for her. Suddenly, the elevator dinged, and Gibbs walked in, looking all business. She realized then that she was in the bullpen standing close to McGee's desk. She quickly retreated to her lab, but soon had to leave when the nausea hit her again. It lasted much longer this time, and it seemed like hours when she was finally able to return to start on work. She checked the time. It was nearly noon, but she did not feel hungry because of all the nausea she had experienced that morning. Ziva came in and set down a ox of evidence without saying a word.

"Hi, Ziva!" Abby said brightly. "Did Timmy arrive yet? I had something to tell him," Ziva froze. Was Abby secretly plotting to take Ray away from her? She narrowed her eyes and stared down the forensic specialist.

"And what news would that be?" she asked in suspicion.

"It's a surprise. But I'm sure it will please everyone," Ziva felt another pang. It was true! They all hated her! 

"Why do you all hate me so?" she asked, feeling despair all over again. Abby gazed at her in confusion.

"Hate you? Why would I hate you? You are important to the team," Ziva shook her head. Of course, that excuse again. She was important to the team, so that meant she was needed equally by everyone. Not a single person was really her friend. Trying to rid the spiraling feeling inside her, she voiced this very thought.

"Well, of course we need you! Ziva, you're the only person I know that can kill eighteen ways with a paperclip. That's a really great accomplishment,"

"What, being a killer?" Ziva asked snidely. "Is that all I am good for these days?" She spun on her heel and stormed out before Abby could respond. Ziva needed to be with Ray. If only she could find him, hold him one more time, she'd feel better. But she didn't have her phone. Then she remembered her office phone. Ziva went into the elevator, not even noticing the agent next to her on the ride up. All that she could think about was her precious Ray. She was addicted to his scent, his voice, and the lovely words he said. He loved her, and no one else. She loved him too, more than he would ever know. Vaguely, she remembered McGee;s words, but they sounded like nothing but lies. Yes, that is what they were. Lies. McGee was a liar. He did not care for her, which is why he lied. Only Ray told the real truth. She exited the elevator before McGee could tell her any more lies. But, of course, she left too late and he grabbed her on the arm.

"Tony loves you, Ziva," he said. She shook her head, twisting out of his grasp. Not the lies again. They sank down into her mind and twisted the truth into a confusing darkness that was impossible to sort out properly.

"No, he doesn't," she insisted, striding over to her desk. There was the phone. Her much needed Ray was only a phone call away. And yet this…special agent held her up like Ray was supposed to mean nothing to her. Nonsense. He just didn't care. None of them did.

"He told me himself," McGee called, but he was already too late. The phone was in her hand, and she was dialing those numbers that would take her to the real truth. Ray…one ring, then two. He answered on the third ring.

"Hello?" His voice was like a drug she couldn't get enough of.

"Hey, just remind me…you are the only one that loves me, yes?"

"Are they telling you lies again?" Ray asked. She didn't answer, knowing that McGee was watching.

"Well, I thought you'd know the answer by now. Of course I love you,"

"And you are the only one?" 

"That is correct, my sweet,"

"Okay," She hung up, feeling relieved. That was all she had wanted to know. McGee stared at her. What was going on? What had Ray done to Ziva?


	19. Chapter 19

"Finally out of that hospital," Tony said happily as he walked into the bullpen. McGee smiled upon spotting him.

"Glad to see you back on your feet again," he said. Ziva hadn't arrived for work yet that morning, but Shelby was here briefing Gibbs on what she knew about the florist. So far, she was the only witness to the crime other than Shelby. She had heard something during the night when the murder happened. In fact, she was the one who had made the call upon discovering the body. As it turns out, Shelby had been heading home from the movies when she heard screams coming from a few blocks down. Tony settled at his desk and prepared to get a jump start on the day. At that moment, Ziva walked in, looking slightly removed from everyone else there.

"Hey, spacing out doesn't look very sexy," Tony accused. Something stirred slightly in Ziva's eyes but it vanished just as quickly. She continued to ignore him and just sat at her desk.

"Alright, Gibbs, I think that's everything," Shelby said, interrupting whatever conversation Tony had been trying to start. She stepped into the elevator just as it slid shut.

"Heard _Xmen_ was in theaters," McGee said conversationally. Tony rolled his eyes.

"You are so behind the times, probie. Saw that movie eight times already. I'll give you points for trying, though," McGee grinned. At that moment, his phone vibrated. He picked it up and opened it.

"Uh…gotta go. Forgot to visit Abby," He smiled sheepishly at his boss, who handed him a Caf-Pow! For the forensic specialist.

Abby paced back and forth in her lab, feeling so nervous that the morning sickness nearly escalated out of control. How was she supposed to tell him they were about to have a second child to care for on top of Gabriel? It was a good thing that he had gotten dropped off with Shelby to be looked after, but eventually he'd have to be sent to school. She sighed and put her head in her hands. Why did it all have to be so complicated? McGee walked in, looking apologetic.

"Sorry I didn't come in earlier," he said. "Tony distracted me with his comment on Ziva…weird how she ignored him, though. Anyway, I probably shouldn't be making excuses-" Abby held up a hand, and he fell silent at once. He watched as her face turned a pale shade of green.

"Excuse me," she whispered. She ran out of the lab. McGee followed her out, Caf-Pow! completely forgotten.

Ziva quietly sat at her desk, going over what had happened last night. Ray reassured her of everything, but what Tony said just minutes before sounded oddly familiar. He didn't seem to have changed a bit. She looked over at him. Tony was currently telling Gibbs what information he had found pertaining to the case. Ziva glanced at her computer screen. So far, it looked like the florist was right. She must really have been closing up shop that night. But, according to the employee logs, someone else was there at that time. The name had been erased. Ziva figured the florist had something to hide. But the case was the last thing on her mind.

"Ziva, what do you got?" Gibbs asked.

"Ducky says the victim, Jorgen Harden, had actually gone into Elena's store just hours before his death," Ziva said mechanically. She paused and glanced at him. Gibbs's face was hard to read, but so far he seemed interested. But, after all this was his job. He was paid to be interested in what she had to say.

"Elena Diane claimed that she was alone when he came in. But I have evidence that someone else was there,"

"Name?" Gibbs prompted.

"It was erased shortly after we left the crime scene," she said, pointing at the log in times of the employee logs.

"Dinozzo, go have a talk with the florist again," Gibbs ordered. Tony quickly left the bullpen without another word. Of course she was too unimportant to join him. But then Gibbs looked at her.

"David, go with him," She nodded and stood up. Ray knew all. There had to be a catch of some kind.

"Something wrong with your legs?" Ziva didn't respond. Gibbs walked up to her, feeling concerned.

"Are you alright?" She shook her head rapidly, trying to ignore his words. No, he didn't care! They weren't supposed to care.

"You're…you're wrong," she murmured. Ray's voice held the only truth she ever knew. Gibbs stared at her in confusion.

"Wrong about what?"

"You don't really care about me, Gibbs. You only want to know if I'm alright so that everything looks good for the Director," Ray had told her this last night while his eyes bored into her in such a way that she had no choice but to believe him. Ice blue eyes, contrasting with the dark brown she was accustomed to looking at, held genuine concern that she did not see.

"You are being ridiculous," Gibbs argued, but his voice was gentle. Perhaps this was how Ray had altered her mind those days away from NCIS. He had no way of knowing what she had gone through, unless she happened to tell him. Gibbs could see a strange vacant stare in her eyes. He doubted she could even see him at this point. Tony walked back in, looking a little disappointed.

"Car broke down, boss," he said. Gibbs ignored him, still focused on Ziva.

"I don't see how knowing what you guys really think of me is ridiculous," Ziva said. She was a little paler than normal. And probably thinner too. Gibbs could see dark circles under her eyes. Her cheek bones were more pronounced, and he could see none of the quiet thoughtful life normally seen in her face.

"Only because we don't think of you like that," Tony spoke up, approaching her with an ease he only had when really concerned about her. Ziva spun around and was startled by his green eyes and kind face. Not what she was expecting at all. Where was the hatred and resentment Ray had spoken of so often?

"I…what?" Ziva mumbled. Her head suddenly started to hurt. What was the truth?

"Ziva, I've always loved you from the moment I first laid eyes on you," Tony continued. She tried to look everywhere but at him, but it was impossible. His eyes locked onto hers with just as much determination as-Ray! Tony was trying to make her forget him! The plan had almost worked, but she wasn't going to let Ray be taken away that easily.

"Well, I love Ray," she declared. "You are wasting your time with me. Why don't you go hit on your old girlfriend and hope she's forgiving?" McGee came into the bullpen, Abby clinging onto him. Tony pulled Ziva toward him. She struggled violently, but the conflict was clear in her eyes. She wasn't sure of anything anymore.

"Let me go!" she growled. "I belong with Ray!" Ziva wrenched away from him and ran for the stairwell. Abby watched her with confusion.

"What's going on, Gibbs?" she asked as Tony ran after her.

"Something's happened to Ziva," Gibbs said.

"Well, we knew that. What do you think Ray did to her, boss?" McGee questioned.

"Hypnotism. What do the two of you know about it?"

"Only everything," Abby said. "Remember when Palmer got shot at and we needed him to remember what the shooter looked like?"

"How could I forget?" Gibbs murmured.

"Getting her back to normal won't be easy, but it's doable," she continued in a professional voice. "Tony chose a good strategy. I think we should let him handle this on his own." Gibbs looked at McGee.

"So, what now?"

"You and I are going to pay the florist a visit," Gibbs said. "Abby, I need you to go back down to your lab and keep in contact with Tony on Ziva's status." She vanished on the spot.

"On your six, boss," McGee said loyally, following Gibbs to the elevator.


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: Hmm, it seems I haven't gotten reviews for a while. Oh well…I'm still enjoying this story so far. Ray may or may not make another appearance. Hint, hint. Now, let's see, where did we leave off…**

Ziva ran and ran, not even paying attention to the frantic footsteps which followed. Her leg muscles burned; though she enjoyed running, this was starting to become too much. Tony's words swirled in her head, and they were a little harder to shove away this time.

_I've always loved you…I've always loved you…_Tony then Ray then Tony again. They've both said it, but who truly means it? Suddenly, she was knocked to the ground for a second time. Dazed and breathless, she allowed herself to be yanked up by an unknown figure. It was _him_ again. She had a sudden image of Tony hugging her in an elevator. That had happened some time before.

"Ziva, come on," Tony begged. His voice…impossible to resist. It was like a drug she could never get enough of. Forget heroine, this was definitely her fix. "I know Ray did some things to you but you at least have to trust me to help you," She squirmed to get away from him but it was a lot less possible now that she was actually listening to his voice. Tony's eyes bored into hers.

"I'll try," she found herself whispering.

"What's going on here?" a voice thundered. Ziva turned to see Ray squeezing Ariel's wrist much too tightly. Tears sprang into the girl's eyes as she struggled to get free from this horrible man. But all Ziva could see was a mixture of anger and confusion. She ignored her daughter entirely.

"Ray? What are you doing here?" she murmured.

"Saving you! He's…he's the enemy!" Ray spluttered. But he was growing more and more uncertain of this. The voice was telling him something different now. _Let her go…_

"Really?" Tony asked sarcastically. "Where in your diseased mind did you come up with such a thing?" Ray hesitated, not sure how to respond. Nobody else knew his secret. He preciously had kept it hidden since high school.

"Well…why do you care?" Ray shot back. "Just let me have her-you know what? It doesn't even matter anymore! You NCIS people always get what you want." The gun was in his hand. _Let her go._ A shot rang out. Ray collapsed to the ground. Blood seeped into the grass from the wound. Ray had just shot himself. Ziva just stared, her face impossible to read.

"Zeeva?" he queried. She was shaking now. No, no…she needed him. She started hyperventilating.

"Ziva, you okay?" No she shall never be alright again. He was gone, for crying out loud! Gone! She should surely-wait, there it was! She made a grab for it, but Tony restrained her.

"Let go of me!" Ziva shrieked. "He's dead, he's dead!" Instead of obeying, he tried calming her down. His soothing voice slowed her breathing and made her forget the shock and terror of Ray's suicide. She looked at him, much calmer than before now. Ray had let go of Ariel to shoot himself, and she now stood there, covered in his blood and shaking violently.

"Mommy," Ariel whimpered. "What happened? Why won't Ray wake up?" Ziva looked at her.

"Ray's gone, sweetie," she said. "Come on over here, I'll get you cleaned up in a minute,"

"Ziv, I'll take you to my place, okay?" Tony said. Ziva nodded, not really paying attention. Ariel approached them carefully, wondering what her mother meant by 'gone' when Ray was right there with them. But once she saw they were both safe, at the moment it didn't matter. They were a family.

Abby shakily stepped out of the bathroom and found herself face to face with Vance. He regarded her calmly for a moment before speaking.

"I need to see Gibbs in MTAC as soon as possible. Have you seen him recently?"

"He went out with Tim to go talk to Ms. Diane about the mysterious employee working at the night of the murder," Abby responded.

"Let me know when he returns," Vance was gone a moment later. Abby sighed, feeling the morning sickness starting to wear off. But that didn't mean she felt any better. She still had to tell Timmy about this. But he said once that one child was enough trouble for anyone with a job like this. The day wore on in this fashion, with Abby alternating between hopeful and extremely nervous. By the time she had finished her lunch in the lab, her nerves were frayed beyond comprehension. They would return soon…Abby looked up and saw McGee standing there, holding a Caf-Pow! obviously meant for her. But she couldn't drink caffeine until the pregnancy was over.

"Hi, Abbs, darling, got you your favorite," He smiled at her. She took the drink but set it down just as quickly.

"Something wrong?"

"No, of course not!" she assured him.

"You feeling okay?" he asked gently.

"Yeah, I'm fine…its just-"

"Where's Gibbs?" Vance demanded, coming into the lab.

"Oh, come on!" Abby shouted. "I'm trying to have a private conversation here!"

"Well, I, this is-" Vance stammered, looking decidedly uncomfortable. Abby rolled her eyes and plowed on, feeling so angry over this one little thing she didn't notice someone else enter the room.

"And what's more, is Gibbs the most important thing around here? Well maybe but it doesn't mean you should barge in like that and obsess over him!" She glared at Vance, a part of her wondering why she even felt so angry in the first place. The Director took a step back. He looked afraid of her. Good. He should be.

"Abbs, calm down," McGee whispered. "It's not that big of a deal?"

"Oh, and me being pregnant isn't?" she argued. Almost at once she realized that she had just made a huge mistake. Her eyes widened. All eyes were on her. The silence made a strange ringing in her ears.

"Pregnant?" McGee repeated. The Director whispered something in Gibbs's ear and they left the lab together. "How long have you known?"

"Several days. I have been trying to tell you, but things kept getting in the way of what I had to say."

"Well, that's great!" McGee whispered. "We're going to have another kid! Oh my God, I wasn't expecting this!" She smiled at him.

"You are the greatest, you know?"

"I know, but its still good to hear you say it," Abby smacked him on the arm.

Ziva collapsed onto the couch and fell asleep at once the second they got into Tony's apartment. Tony watched over Ariel and made sure she was alright.

"I want a bath," Ariel said after a while. "Can you help me, Tonee?" He smiled a little, very reminded of Ziva.

"Of course…" When Ariel was all clean he decided to make her some lunch and check up on Ziva. He was afraid she'd suddenly have a nightmare and Ariel would demand what was going on.

"I think something made Ray sad at home," Ariel said suddenly, coming into the kitchen all dressed in her Cinderella nightgown.

"Really?" Tony murmured. "Why do you say that?" He got out the peanut butter and jelly, all prepared to make a sandwich for the child.

"Because there was a bully at day care who said he stole toys because things made him sad at home,"

"What things, sweetie?" He set the sandwich on a plate and handed it to her. She sat at the table and started eating.

"Like his mommy being so bad with smelly drinks she's not supposed to have and his daddy never coming home like he said he would some day." she said absently. Tony was surprised at this new information. Perhaps Ray really thought he was doing the right thing.

"That is really bad," Tony agreed. "Why don't you go find a book to read when you're done? I need to check on your mother,"

"Is she sick?" Ariel asked with a mouthful of bread and grape jelly. Tony looked at her. Dark eyes, dark hair, and a curious nature. So like her mother in many ways.

"I don't know," Ariel finished up her sandwich and wandered around the apartment in search of something to do. Ziva tossed and turned where she lay and even fell to the floor as Tony came up to her. Suddenly, she shrieked and sat up, drenched in sweat. Tony kneeled down and helped her back to the couch.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked softly. She shook her head. "You have to trust me sometime…Ray's gone now," She flinched into his shirt. Ziva didn't look ready to accept the news just yet.

"Ray said he…needed me," Ziva whispered. "Why did he kill himself if he needed me so much?" Her face was filled with confusion.

"I don't know," Tony sure didn't know a lot these days. But one thing he was sure of was that Ziva was the one. He'd do anything to get her to trust him again. Even if it meant Ray stumbling back through that door and just begging to be shot a second time.

"I'm going to call Ducky and have him do an autopsy on Ray. I'll be back in half an hour…Ariel should be fine. I'll tell Abby to come over here and watch you. She will be here in ten minutes or less." Tony kissed her briefly on the forehead and left the apartment. Something stirred inside Ziva just then, but she was so lost in shock she couldn't even process the new emotion trying to make itself known to her. So, feeling exhausted, she turned over and tried to get back to sleep. But she could only think of him, and those kind green eyes.


	21. Chapter 21

It was late that night at NCIS. Palmer had long since left autopsy. Ducky grabbed his coat and hat, prepared to leave himself. The door opened, and someone stepped in. Ducky glanced behind him. The body was put away. Vault 2 if his memory did not betray him, which sometimes it did in his advancing years.

"Where?" a female voice asked softly.

"Vault 2," Ducky replied. "I must get going. Take all the time you need." With that, he was gone. The door was opened, and Ray's body was revealed for the first time in hours.

"I'm sorry," Ziva sobbed over his body. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and her cries alerted a certain agent already on his way over.

"Shh, it's okay," Tony murmured, wrapping his arms around her. "It's not your fault. If anything, it's mine for not getting you out sooner." She continued sobbing into his shirt, unable to respond to anything at the moment.

"You can trust me," Tony whispered.

"I'll…I'll try," Ziva choked, attempting to ignore the thoughts swirling in her head at the moment. After a time, she calmed down somewhat and let herself be led away by him.

"I'll take you back to your place…Ariel's already fast asleep in her own bed," Ziva said nothing, still trying to get her bearings.

"I'd ask if you are okay, but that answer is obvious," Tony continued, starting the car. When had they gotten in? Ziva tried to remember. But there was nothing but the crushing grief of realizing she had nothing to hang onto anymore. She didn't have anything to be sure of anymore. It could all very well be a trick, but it was also more real than anything else she'd ever experienced. She sat there in complete confusion, wondering who she should believe. Next thing she knew, she was back in her own apartment laying on the couch.

"I can sleep in my own bed," Ziva protested, but she already felt so tired she was unsure if Tony had heard her.

"Shh, just sleep," Tony said softly. As if on command, Ziva drifted off into unconsciousness. For some time there was nothing but a relaxing heavy blackness that was simple to deal with. Ignorable. But then…she opened her eyes to find herself in that crypt again. It was all a horrible dream. She still had Ray.

"Hey, honey, was Tony lying to you again?" he asked in a sickly sweet voice filled with more danger than his most angry tone.

"No, of course not!" Ziva found herself saying. "He truly wanted to know if I was alright, which I-"

"No!" Ray shouted. "Stop right there! He's already gotten to you!" He lashed out at her, and she went flying to the hard stone floor already stained with blood from…Ariel. Oh God. Her broken body lay there, limbs bent in unnatural angles and bones nearly poking out of the skin. Her eyes were rolled back in her head. Ziva was so shocked she barely felt the resulting throb of a resulting bruise.

"Ariel," she choked out, reaching out toward her only daughter.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" Ray practically screamed in her face. "Listen to me!" But Ziva already stopped listening to him. Ziva crawled to Ariel and found she was still breathing. But barely. She had to save her. Ray pounced, dragging her away.

"Ariel isn't important right now! Only I am! She's just a…mistake! She's just going to die anyway, look," Ziva shook her head. No way this was real. Ray was dead. She had to get out of this nightmare. She had to wake up…_wake up…wake up…wake up…_

"Wake up!" Tony said desperately. Ziva was shrieking and trying to squirm away from him, but still she did not wake. Finally, her eyes snapped open and she looked at him blankly.

"What was your nightmare about?" Tony asked.

"Ray killed Ariel," Ziva sobbed. Normally she wouldn't show this much emotion but it was clear the nightmare had been traumatic.

"Ariel's perfectly fine…you were just dreaming. Why don't you go back to sleep?" She nodded and sank against his chest. Ziva was asleep at once. With Tony there, she didn't have another nightmare. Sleeping was a little easier despite her fears. His scent created a sort of protection off all those little demons threatening to take over. Very soon, Tony fell asleep as well in his awkward position on top of her. Seconds later, it seemed, he was woken up by a call from Gibbs. He checked the time. 0700…why did this always happen to him?

"Dinozzo, report," Gibbs barked.

"Uhh, got Ziva back, boss," he said sleepily.

"No, on the case," Gibbs sighed in frustration.

"Going to interview Mike now-probie gave me the name when I got here. By the way, what am I going to do about Ziva? After all this stuff with Ray, she's a mess…I don't think she should be left alone for too long."

"Abby can go over. McGee will be waiting for you." The line disconnected. Ziva was still asleep, so Tony had to carefully untangle himself from her and go to his apartment to change. After a hot shower, fresh clothes, and a brief conversation with Abby, he was all set to go.

"Where's Tony?" Ziva mumbled, finding Abby in the apartment instead.

"He had to go," Abby replied. "How are you doing?" Ziva said nothing.

"I'll go make breakfast, then," she said, searching for the kitchen. It was over to the side right by the living room. Unusually enough, it was actually combined with the dining room to make one large room.

"Abby!" Ariel shouted, running up to her to give her a big hug around the knees. "When did you get here?"

"A few minutes ago. Tony had to leave for something work related,"

"Do you know if my mommy is sick or not?" Ariel asked innocently.

"I sure hope not," Abby replied vaguely, wondering what answer she would have to give this child when the truth came out.

"Mommy! You left me in the car seat again!" Gabriel cried out, running into the apartment. The front door slammed shut, startling Ziva.

"Sorry," Abby called, searching the cabinets for the pancake mix. Empty, empty, empty…well, Ziva hadn't spent much time here lately. She'd have to go to the store later.

"Alright, who wants to go to Walmart?" Abby asked brightly, looking at the two children. Ziva stumbled into the kitchen, rubbing sleep out of her eyes.

"I don't see why not," the ex-Mossad agent muttered in reply. "I'll go get ready,"

"And I will supervise the children!" Abby smiled at her. Ziva did not smile back, but just left the kitchen without another word.

"We're going to Walmart! We're going to Walmart!" Gabriel sang, dancing around the kitchen with Ariel right next to him. It was going to be a long day, Abby realized, as the morning sickness started to set in. She ran off for the bathroom. The door slammed shut before Ziva could enter.

"Abby?" In her haze of conflicted thoughts, the concern was there somewhere. But Ray's voice was still in her head, dominating everything else. So, she just turned away and went off into her room to find some clothes to wear for today. The only time she had ever gotten anywhere near to understanding who actually cared about her was when Tony happened to be around. Should she trust him, then, since he knew the truth? Her father's words echoed back at her now. _Trust no one._ _They'll just end up betraying you in the end._

At Walmart, Gabriel and Ariel continually fought over which breakfast cereal to buy in the breakfast aisle.

"I want Froot Loops!" Ariel said, shoving the box at Gabriel.

"I don't like them! Frosted Flakes are grrreat!" Gabreil argued.

"Why don't we get both?" Abby suggested. They had been going at this for fifteen minutes already. Seriously this reminded her of Tony and-Ziva! Where was she? Abby looked wildly around, but saw her nowhere. Muttering cuss words under her breath, she went off in search of Ziva, cart and children in tow.

Ziva stared and stared at the object in her hand. Was this where the truth lied now? She shook the mysterious black ball. Sorry, Try Again.

_Did Tony really care about me?_ Ziva gently shook the Magic Eight Ball. Outlook is Good. What was the purpose of this object? Did it really know all, as the commercial said?

"Ziva! There you are!" Abby exclaimed breathlessly. "Quit playing with that and help me get the shopping done...you do remember we're in Walmart, right?" Ziva sadly followed her friend to the produce aisle. She thought she was so close to learning the truth. She put the Magic Eight Ball in a random cart and kept walking.

"What were you doing with that, by the way?" she asked while they were checking out half an hour later.

"Trying to find out the truth," Ziva said.

"About what?" But she wouldn't say anything more.

"Alright, Mike, why'd you erase your own name out of the employee logs?" Tony asked. They were now in interrogation, with McGee observing from behind the glass. Mike was young, about eighteen or nineteen.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about," Mike stammered, brushing his hair back nervously. He was sweating and very pale.

"Look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Just tell me what you know and you won't get hurt." He glanced at Gibbs then refocused on Mike's jittery form.

"Alright, I did it! I erased it!" Mike blurted. He looked paler than ever. "It was a mistake, I'm sorry!"

"Relax, kid, it's okay," Tony chuckled. "Why'd you do it?" 

"I meant to change my hours, 'cause they were all screwed up because of the stupid power surge."

"There…wasn't a power surge," Tony said.

"But…my boss…oh crap!" Mike leapt to his feet. In the bright lights, the clammy sheen of sweat on his face seemed to shine.

"You okay?" Mike shook his head and stumbled toward the door.

"Just need a soda," he muttered. "I'll be f-fine," He took out some object. It looked electronic. It pricked his finger, and after a moment, the mysterious object beeped and showed a number.

"You're diabetic!" Tony blurted without thinking. Mike nodded, his shaggy hair bouncing a little with the motion.

"You mind if I step out for a minute? My blood sugar's a little low and I'd hate to pass out in this place."

"I'll take you to Abby's lab. She usually has something,"

"The forensic specialist?" Mike questioned. "I've heard some things about her,"

"Yeah, well she's married so don't bother trying anything on her," Tony said, leading him out of interrogation.

"I have a girlfriend," Mike replied, as if this would solve everything.

"Never stopped me sometimes," Tony muttered. Upon waking into Abby's lab, he discovered it to be empty. Tony sighed and called her, hoping she was on the way here. Mike looked about ready to throw up.

"Abby here," a familiar voice said happily.

"Hey, need you over here ASAP with a soda and some snacks for this guy…his blood sugar doesn't look so good and I need him healthy for the interrogation,"

"Since when did we treat the bad guys like our friends?" Abby asked. "You know I'm trying to make breakfast for the kids, right?"

"He's not a bad guy…Mike here just made a mistake," A brief pause. Abby sighed. There was a crash, then a scream in the background.

"I have to go, Tony. Just get a Caf-Pow! out of the fridge. I won't be drinking them for a while anyway."

"Why? Are you on a no caffeine thing again?"

"Something like that…I will explain later. See you,"

"What's a Caf-Pow?" Mike asked when Tony had hung up.

"Look in the mini fridge and you'll find out," Mike obeyed at once.

"When did you find out?" Tony inquired politely.

"I was about six, and at the doctor's office when I was told about my condition," Mike replied, taking a slurp of Caf-Pow! just the way Abby used to all the time. Ever since Ziva disappeared she did not drink them as often. Well, actually, nothing had ever been the same for the past five years or so.

"Must be rough," Tony commented. Mike shrugged and looked around the lab. Without Abby here, the place looked sort of lifeless and empty. Tony was tempted to turn on the stereo as loud as it could go.

"Are you going to be alright all alone?" Abby asked anxiously. Ziva didn't respond, but just looked at her. She had been way too quiet ever since breakfast was over.

"Where are you going?" Ziva asked dully.

"Gabriel has a doctor's appointment and he needs to get his shots," Abby explained.

"I will be fine," Ziva said. Ariel turned on the TV to Nickelodeon and started watching iCarly in complete silence. Abby left, with Gabriel asking if they would be back soon. Ziva went off into her room and lay on her bed. Finally, she was alone. But was it really as satisfying as she'd thought it would be? The thoughts went round and round, refusing to leave her alone. _Of course they lied to me, that's what they're best at, but then again when I was captured in Somalia they did everything to find me, especially Tony. Ray is dead now, he was my everything, the only person I was certain of. Now I'm on my own for figuring all of this out. So, they lied, didn't they? Abby, Gibbs, Vance, McGee, Tony…oh, God, Tony…_this was beginning to exhaust her. The problem was, a part of her knew the truth, but a dark part of the mind that didn't belong to her caused all of this madness. It was…it was…a dark demon. Of course. She remembered thinking of such a thing, lifetimes ago. A sigh, so soft it was barely heard, escaped her lips now and then. But that was not what held her full attention. Ray, Tony, then Ray again. One is gone. One is here. One is truth, and one was a lie. But who? Why should she have to choose like this? Especially since she had no idea how to tell dark from light, wrong from right? Tony's eyes, kind and honest and green, peered at her now.

_You can trust me…_

"Can I?" Ziva murmured. Nothing but silence answered her.


	22. Chapter 22

Morning after morning, Abby suffered through the nausea that continually distracted her from the problems at hand. Something was certainly wrong here. Ziva should have recovered by now, right? But maybe the damage was not physical. So, five days after the trip to Walmart, when Ziva had not returned to work like she should have, Abby decided to pay her a visit. Little did she know that Gibbs had the same thing in mind scarcely an hour before.

"Gibbs…I'm fine. You don't need to do this," Abby paused upon hearing voices coming from the bedroom.

"No, you're not. Stop lying," There was a silence, during which Abby tried to make a split decision to leave, but then she heard Ziva speak, and found it impossible to believe what she was hearing now.

"Alright, so I'm very confused, Gibbs. I don't know what to believe anymore. Ray told me these things...he said you guys were bad and I should only love him. Initially I did not listen, but he had such ways I cannot even speak of that convinced me, and still do quite a bit. And then Tony, a few days ago told me to trust him. But I just don't know anymore."

"What do you think you should do, then?"

"That's just it! I have no idea! Come on, wouldn't you be feeling some doubt after being hypnotized several times?" Abby's legs were beginning to shake. Her stomach churned and twisted. She was unable to listen to anymore but her feet were glued to the spot.

"How do you know you were hypnotized?"

"Well, I've thought about it, and how else would his eyes just pierce into mine like so…" More silence. This was getting to be too much. Abby couldn't handle it. No, no, she'd surely faint from the horror of it all! But if the past five years hadn't taught her something about strength, then nothing else had. So, taking in a shaky breath or two, she fought back the urge to collapse and kept listening.

"What do I do, Gibbs? You always figure it out for Abby, what about me, practically the other daughter?"

"You'll know, in time,"

"That…is a load of bullshit, and you know it!"

"Right now it is, for you. But soon it won't be," Abby shrank back against the wall as Gibbs left the room.

"Hey, Abs," Gibbs said without looking at her. This was it. She was finished. Abby ran for the bathroom, hand over her mouth. Gibbs followed, cloak billowing around his ankles as he harried past room after room. Abby dropped to the floor and bent over the toilet, feeling a mixture between misery and humiliation as she vomited her guts out right in front of Gibbs. He held her hair back, not asking questions, just providing mute support and concern like he always did for her. When warranted, of course.

"Should've told you sooner, Gibbs…I'm pregnant," He blinked, unsurprised by this news.

"That's great, Abs," She smiled weakly at him, glad to see a brief smirk already starting to disappear from his lined face.

"No idea if it's a girl or boy yet…"

"First to know?"

"Second, thought Tim deserved priority for once,"

"What did you hear over there?"

"Enough to be really shocked and scared for Ziva. What's going to happen now, Gibbs? You just told her to decide for herself if I'm not mistaken," Gibbs almost smiled. The forensic specialist knew him too well.

"Don't worry about it. You feel alright?" Abby shrugged, not quite looking at him.

"Soon as I stop throwing up every two hours, I'll be my usual fantastic…don't think it's a good idea for you to be in here though, Gibbs," Predictably, he didn't budge. She sat and stared at him for a while, hoping he'd get her point. "I mean sometimes things get messy, like when I think it's all over and then there's no place for me to-" He got up and left. Abby smiled, but grimaced a moment later and twisted back around to the position she was in earlier.

"Where's Abby?" Tony asked, sitting at his desk, Dunkin Donuts bag in hand. McGee shrugged, continuing to type away at the computer like nothing had happened.

"Do you want jelly filled or sprinkles, McUnHealthy?" McGee rolled his eyes.

"The donuts are fat free, and I said I wanted glazed," Tony looked into the bag. Gibbs entered the bullpen, closely followed by Abby, who looked very excited. Hmm. Business as usual, then. Except for the fact that Abby was supposed to be in her lab, not here in the bullpen like the agents minus one were now.

"Tony, forgot to mention…I'm pregnant," Abby said conversationally. Tony almost choked on his jelly filled donut.

"That's really great!" he wheezed, reaching for his coffee. McGee snatched the Dunkin Donuts bag and went back to his own desk without a word.

"I'll keep you freaks posted," Abby said with a quick wink. She retreated to the stairwell and melted into the darkness in there.

"So, what's Ziva doing that's keeping her away from work?" Tony asked, swallowing the last of his donut. Gibbs looked over at him. Concern was there, followed by uncertainty, and determination. He wanted something…but what? Tony frowned, struggling to read the man's face.

"She probably needs me," Tony said quietly after a minute.

"Go, then, Dinozzo," He leapt to his feet and ran out of the bullpen. McGee followed his movements with some interest, but was so uninformed of Ziva's status that this did not really apply to him anyway.

"Well, at least I have my-" Gibbs took the donut without missing a beat and sat at his desk. McGee stared at it longingly.

"Should stick to your diet anyway, McGee," Gibbs said, taking a bite of the donut. McGee sighed and went to go visit Abby, hoping for some updates on the case. But when he walked in the place was empty. That seemed to be happening a lot this week. Especially the mornings. Sometimes he wished he didn't know exactly why. One minute passed, then two. Finally, he went off to the restrooms in search of Abby, hoping she was alright. McGee saw the third stall was locked. Shrugging, he kicked it open anyway and found Abby there, bent over and throwing up.

"Oh, Abby," McGee sighed. She flushed the toilet and got to her feet, coughing and shaking. She looked at him, green eyes distressed, filled with something he didn't recognize. He pulled her to him, unable to fight the longing any longer. He wanted to kiss her despair away to where no one could reach it. But, he knew he'd just find her like this the next morning.

"I'm fine, Tim," Abby said, her voice muffled by his shirt. He kissed her hair, soft and light. "Just need a breath mint and…" She ran back into the stall.

"Call me if you need anything, okay?" No response. McGee left the bathroom, silently hoping this was all worth it in the end. Then he remembered Ziva, and thought it best to at least pay her a visit to see if all was well in the place she had chosen to retreat to: her own bed, according to the fatherly concern that never left Gibbs's face.

Ziva shuffled into the bullpen, hoping to see Tony but instead ran into McGee, who looked prepared to leave.

"Hey, was just looking for you," McGee said with a small smile. "How are you doing?"

"Fine," she said, answering only the question and not the implication.

"Well, was there something you wanted? The case is rolling along…I sent you an email with the updates,"

"Where is Tony?"

"He went to your place, didn't you see him there?" He peered at his friend's face, hoping to find some answers there, but all that he could see was genuine confusion and a general sort of detachment.

"Give me the money," a voice demanded, the hot breath smelling of the familiar stench of alcohol. Tony groaned in response, spitting out blood and possibly a few teeth.

"Why the hell do you want my money?"

"You ever heard of a guy named Ray?" In the darkness, Tony was glad nobody could see the horror on his face.

"What about him?"

"He works for me, and he said it was either your money or your life, man. Now, I'm a nice dude and willing to make compromises…and Ray's not too smart of a guy, either, so that helps. But, anyway, he seemed out to destroy this organization called NCIS. I have no idea what he's on about, schizophrenic freak. But I know this place exists, and that it's important enough to keep. So, just give me what's in your pocket and I'll let you go. Oh, and sorry about almost breaking your jaw there. Didn't know how else to get your attention. Force of habit, you know?" Jesus, this stranger thug was more talkative than Abby, if one let her ramble on that long.

"How do I know you're not lying?" Tony grumbled.

"Would I make this up?"

"Well, for one thing, Ray is freakin' dead…" Tony let his voice trail off dramatically. "And secondly I am a witness to his suicide. So you need to do a whole lot of convincing to persuade the Dinozzo,"

"Would this recording device with all of our phone conversations while Ray was in Morocco be enough?" Tony couldn't help but grin, this was way too easy.

"Why wouldn't it be?" A small object was pressed into his hand and he was shoved back into the unexpected sunlight. Tony struggled to get his bearings, ignoring his aching jaw. Now to find Ziva…


	23. Chapter 23

Ziva felt so lost without Tony there. She needed him to tell her, just one last time, that he was worth trusting, worth loving even. She wanted him to just be there, holding her, not even talking…just being close enough for her to smell his sweet scent of pine woods and blackened coffee. Abby was there, attempting to comfort her, without much success.

Tony threw a fistful of money in the general direction of where he had just been and kept walking. Where would Ziva be now? Certainly not at home. He knew she would be resilient and try to return to work as soon as possible. His jaw was really hurting now, even after taking some aspirin to abate the pain somewhat. Luckily it would only turn out to be a bruise rather than dislocated or broken. But, for a bruise, it sure provided a lot of pain with chewing and things like that. Step, and another step there just like that. There was his car. Start it, and then drive. These simple thoughts, along with a mental image of Ziva, were all that kept him going. That brink of some unknown state was not something he wanted to fall off of. But something inside him said Ziva had long since reached that point. Tony started driving too fast, weaving amongst the traffic with ease, and earning a lot of angry protests in the process. He just hoped he wasn't too late. Finally, he was through security and safely parked, all in one piece. Walking up to the building, he couldn't get over how modest it seemed on the outside. Before Tony could fully appreciate the architecture of NCIS, though, he was already inside riding up the elevator. Basement, which held Ducky's autopsy lab and Abby's lab in one, then all those interrogation rooms. Next came the conference room…several floors later, the doors opened. He found Ziva sitting there at her own desk, with her head in her hands. He hoped he wasn't too late. Would she ever trust him again, or anyone? Abby stood by McGee's desk, giving him an update on the case.

"Tim, look," Abby said softly, breaking off from her monologue. McGee turned and smiled upon spotting Tony entering the bullpen.

"Hey, Tony," He ignored them both, focused entirely on Ziva.

"Ziva, I'm here," Tony whispered in her ear. She looked up at him, a mixture of surprise and relief. But then it all quickly faded, and he could see conflicted thoughts going on in her head.

"I do not know whether to trust you," she murmured, her face flushing with shame. "It is like my head is a broken tape with the same thoughts over and over,"

"Record, Ziva…record," He smiled at her, and saw a hint of the agent he knew gazing back at him.

"Well that is one thing I can be sure of," she said.

"What?"

"That American idioms are as confusing as ever," Tony laughed a little, taking Ziva's hands in his. This felt so right, just being here with her. She blinked in surprise at the contact, but did not protest or wrench away from him. Not that she wanted to. She wasn't complaining. At the moment, this felt nice. She closed her eyes, imagining the future. But at the moment it all looked uncertain. Perhaps she just didn't have that good of an imagination.

"Ziva, I've loved you from the moment we met," Tony said. She spun around in her chair, gazing intently into his genuine green eyes. "I have no idea if you feel the same way, but what I do know is that I want us to be more than friends. You just…well, I can't just imagine being with anyone else right now,"

"You'd take me as I am, no string attached?" Ziva asked softly, processing all of this. "Even with the fact that I may cower back from you in fear when I know I have no reason to be afraid?"

"I don't care what Ray did to you, that doesn't matter to me at the moment," he replied with confidence. "What matters to me, right here and now, is making you happy in any way I can," She didn't respond, so overwhelmed she was by all of this.

"I mean, if you want, we can wait," Tony continued uncertainly, seeing doubt in her eyes. "This must all be pretty sudden for you, so I'm fine with being just friends for another month or so-" Ziva softly pressed her lips to his, silencing his chatter at once. An endless moment, a year, or maybe just four seconds later, they finally broke apart. They stared at one another, both equally surprised by what had just happened.

"I…I'm sorry," Ziva apologized. "I didn't know how else to get you to shut up," Her face was flaming a bright shade of magenta now. Tony felt his own cheeks getting very hot.

"W-Well, what do you think we-" A hand smacked him from behind, and he lurched forward, almost into Ziva, who was now standing.

"Rule 12, Dinozzo," Gibbs called without looking at him.

"Right, boss," He winced and refocused on Ziva. "Very nice way to shut me up, by the way,"

"I think we should wait a little longer," she said. "I need some time to get my bearings,"

"Take all the time you need," Tony assured her, trying to ignore the aching disappointment that hurt worse than his jaw, worse than pneumonia even. Ziva stared at him with wonder. He was certainly a forgiving man. She turned away and walked over to Abby and McGee to strike up a conversation. Tony watched her for a while, then sat at his desk to get to work. The kiss had meant nothing. It was just…an accident. Yes, that's what it was.

**A/N: Sorry for the shortness, but at least I got some Tiva in there finally! The most contradictory couple was just inches from being a couple for real…Anyway I should be able to update again either later today or tomorrow.**


	24. Chapter 24

"Alright, I've got all the phone conversations here," Tony said, handing the device to McGee. "Why don't you and Abby work your magic together?" Feeling hungry, he went to the vending machines to find something to eat. But, as he ate his granola bar and bag of chips, all he could think of was Ziva's lips on his, soft and gentle. Sighing, he just tossed out the remains of his snack and tried to focus on work. Unfortunately, with Ziva right there near him, that was a huge impossibility. So, paperwork forgotten, he just watched her, wondering what was going through her mind.

"Get back to work, Dinozzo," Gibbs's hand smacked Tony upside the head, snapping him back to reality.

"Right, um, I know Ray worked for someone, I'll try and see if I can get a name,"

"Ya think?" Gibbs said, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. Tony sighed and set to work, a goal in mind. But as line after line of database scrolled by in cramped black lettering, the only thing he was truly focused on was her.

Meanwhile, a certain ex-Mossad agent was distracted as well, but in a whole different way. Sure, she was getting everything done like she should, unlike Tony, who currently was staring into space. Then Gibbs gave him a hearty head slap and started ordering him around. She wondered if wither of them were worthy to trust-if any of them were. She quickly got back to work before those thoughts could get back there again.

"Okay, lots of static, so we can cut that out…" Abby leaned over the keyboard and started typing. McGee smiled, watching her. This was what he loved best about his job. Being with the ones he loved, while at the same time providing justice to those who died with injustice.

"Well, what about that?" McGee pointed at the last date on the list of recorded conversations.

"Hmm, we haven't looked at that yet, have we?" They had been working for over two hours, trying to edit all the conversations so that only the important parts would be heard. Vance walked in, looking for an update since Gibbs hadn't arrived yet.

"What do you got, Mr. and Mrs. McGee?" Abby squealed in delight at the fact she shared her Timmy's last name.

"Nothing yet, but we were about to take a look at something Abby had taken notice of," Vance nodded, then focused on the screen before him. After a moment, Abby pressed PLAY, and stepped back a little bit to be next to her husband.

"Yeah, so what was all that you said about a crypt, Ray?"

"I just want it built under that old rental house of yours…you know, the one closest to NCIS,"

"Man, what is with you and NCIS? And aren't you working for me?"

"Consider this a favor between friends. I'll keep in touch. You know what to do when you see any one of them," The line disconnected. Abby turned to see Gibbs had joined Vance in the lab.

"Nice work, both of you," Vance said before Gibbs could start talking. "I'll be in my office," He strolled out with Gibbs right behind him.

"Arrg!" Tony growled, slamming his hands down on the desk. This was getting him nowhere. Nothing showed up in the database, no matter how hard he searched. He must have tried a dozen different phrases in a hundred different ways. This was completely useless. Then he caught sight of Ziva, returning from a visit to autopsy. Tony sighed, and decided to try one last time. He focused on his computer screen, and carefully typed "Foreclosed Morocco Homes" He clearly remembered the description of the rooms mentioned in Ziva's journal. Time passed, but he scarcely noticed. All that mattered was pleasing his boss. He scrolled through home after home, and soon was down to only seven similarities.

"What are you doing?" Ziva asked, speaking to him directly for the first time since their shared kiss. The late afternoon sun weakly streamed through the only window not covered entirely by blinds, creating a golden halo around her as she approached him.

"Looking for the house you stayed in for several years," Tony replied, as if they had shared nothing more than casual conversation earlier.

"It was that one," She pointed at the last picture on the screen and walked off to the elevator, golden halo starting to fade away. He stared after her for a long time, and then the doors silently slid shut. A faint ache, possibly resulting in her absence, rather than the fact he had gotten punched in the face. That was all which remained in his consciousness. A sigh escaped his lips, followed by a moan. McGee, who had just come into the bullpen for a brief break, gazed at Tony with a questioning look in his eyes.

"Not now, probie," Tony muttered. "Why don't you go play with Abby or something?"

"I just wanted to see if you were okay," McGee said.

"Of course I'm okay…Dinozzos don't cry,"

"They don't stare at their coworkers like that either," Tony decided to ignore him, but those words were almost true. Which made the whole ignoring plan a whole lot harder.

"Fine, I'll tell you," he sighed at last. McGee thought it best not to show off just then and smirk like an immature child.

"I love Ziva but she doesn't trust me anymore," McGee blinked. That was it? This is what had Tony all in a tangle?

"Tony, I already knew that. Why don't you man up and make a move on her?"

"Already tried, but she wants to wait…I don't, though. Listen, it's best if we don't talk about this right now,"

"Okay," McGee said softly. "I better get back to work. Come find me if you need me," Tony did not look up again for a while and when he did McGee was long gone. He glanced at the name of who owned the foreclosed home, and thought that it would be best to see if this matched up with any of his previous searches. After several tries, it turned out his gut feeling was right. A man named Roger Taxelton used to own this place, and he had a connection with Ray.

"Boss, have a possible lead here," he called to Gibbs, who was now coming out of the elevator.

"Go follow it, then," Gibbs responded. Tony sighed and slipped into the elevator before it could close completely.

AN: Well at least I got another chapter in. This one was kind of slow, but it'll pick up in the next chapter…just needed to finish this. It's getting late here anyway and my mom keeps telling me to go to bed.


	25. Chapter 25

Gibbs glanced over at Ziva, who was currently sitting at her desk, wrapped in her own thoughts as she gazed at her computer screen. He could see a mixture of longing and confusion there, and Gibbs began to wonder if Tony was the cause of all this. Just hours before, they had shared a kiss and without thinking he had reminded them of a rule that was more of his revenge against Jenny anyway. But she was long gone…Gibbs internally winced at the thought. Now was not the time for that. He went down to autopsy in search of Ducky, almost without meaning to.

"Hello, Jethro," Ducky called.

"Found the stethoscope, Doctor," Palmer said, handing the object over to him. Gibbs ventured further in, still thinking of Ziva and Tony. They both were happy together. So, what was keeping them apart?

"Was there something you needed?" The ME regarded Gibbs quietly, noticing he was troubled by something.

"Rule 12…it was a huge mistake,"

"Why do you say that?" Gibbs glanced behind him, as if the answer would show up suddenly and save him these next few words.

"Tony and Ziva," Gibbs said at last. Ducky sighed and set the stethoscope aside. Palmer went off to the other room so they could be alone.

"I could never figure those two out. It seems like the more clear their relationship is to us, the less obvious it is to them. I think we should just leave them alone for now, and as for Rule 12, I think Abigail and Timothy were first to disregard it years and years ago."

"Tony loves Ziva," McGee said casually to Abby as she started shutting down the machines for the day.

"Hmm, really?" Abby said vaguely, not paying attention. For the past hour, she had been going through baby names that could be mentioned later.

"I saw Ziva kiss Tony earlier, weren't you even paying attention?" Abby just shrugged, going over to the light switch to turn it off.

"I wonder what's going on between them. It looks like Ziva wants to be with him, but something is holing her back,"

"Stop gossiping, Tim, it's not good for you," Abby said, turning off the light. Her lab was plunged into total darkness. McGee sighed and followed her out. It was none of his business, after all.

"Where were we having dinner again?" he asked, changing the subject as discreetly as he could. Abby sighed and smiled at him, thinking he had memory problems. Looks like the plan worked.

"Don't think this gets you off the hook for being a nosy fool," she teased, leaning over to kiss him.

"Oh, get a room, will you?" Tony said, startling the couple. He grinned at them.

"Where's Ziva?" McGee asked. "I thought she was with you,"

"Ah, no…it's been a long day, actually. I can't think of a way to convince her to trust me,"

"You almost convinced her earlier today…" Abby said, her voice trailing off.

"I'll just string something together," Tony muttered.

"At least he's not going to wing it," McGee commented sarcastically when he was gone.

"Like you did with proposing me?" Abby asked. McGee smiled at the memory of it all. He didn't have a ring, or a plan, even. He just popped the question at a perfectly average moment on an ordinary day.

"That's different," he said defensively. Abby just laughed and walked out to the car lot, McGee right behind her.

"Sure it is," They continued playfully bickering about it the whole way to the restaurant. Upon arriving, McGee noticed people were all crowded around something outside, and there was no way in.

"What's going on here?" Abby called. She ran up ahead to investigate, shoving past people to see Kelantan on the ground, soaked in blood and gasping for air.

"Roger…he doesn't like people…finding out…" Kelantan wheezed. He was dying, and very quickly. Abby knelt down and held his hand, feeling entirely helpless to his suffering.

"What happened?" Abby said in a choked whisper.

"Roger…spoke to Tony," Kelantan struggled for air, pressing his free hand to the wound on his stomach. "He panicked, came to me, the big shot, the brains of the operation. Yup, I'm the boss of both of them and knew everything all along…and now, Roger's scared and did the first thing he always does when he panics,"

"What are you talking about?" Abby exclaimed while someone dialed 911.

"Can't…tell you…" Kelantan whispered, running out of air. "Too late…" His eyes rolled back in his head. He fell limp against the ground. Abby checked for a pulse.

"Call Ducky," she said quietly to McGee, who had just arrived on the scene. "Call Gibbs. We've got a problem on our hands here,"

"Okay, Ziva, the truth is-" Tony was cut off by Gibbs's phone ringing. Gibbs answered it and listened intently to the voice on the other end. Tony strained to listen and thought he recognized Abby's voice. After a minute, he hung up and got to his feet.

"Kelantan was murdered out by Red Lobster," he announced. "Gear up, let's go,"

"Jamie's husband was murdered?" Tony said, following his boss out. "But why?"

"That's what we're going to find out," Gibbs responded.

"What were you going to say earlier?" Ziva asked.

"Later, Ziv, I can't think right now," Tony muttered, trying to buy some time. Maybe if he got the words out right she wouldn't completely reject him again.

"Who was it that called you about this?" Ziva inquired.

"McGee,"

"What? He was at Red Lobster?" Tony exclaimed incredulously. "I thought they were going to Mac Alistair's," Gibbs head slapped him, a little lighter than his usual insanely hard.

"Sorry, boss…what else did he say?"

"Not much, he did go on for a while about how this was supposed to be a perfect evening, though," Ziva guessed he was planning on having a romantic get away with his wife, starting with a nice dinner at Red Lobster. Unfortunately, a murder tends to put a damper on such plans. She decided to stay quiet, rather than make some comment on the country she had grown up in.

"What seems to be the trouble, Jethro?" Ducky asked as he got out of the van, Palmer close behind him with the medical bag.

"Over here," Gibbs said. Crime scene tape, check. Area clear of people, check. Abby stood off to the side, sobbing into McGee's shoulder. Jamie had arrived on the scene moments before, it seemed, her daughter Shelby in tow. They were both somber and not talking much. Ducky knelt down and examined the body. Kelantan looked vaguely Greek, with his olive toned skin, angular features, and foreign clothing. Palmer handed him a thermometer.

"Sham this had to happen to you, dear boy," Ducky said, addressing the body before him as he always did. "Gone before your time, like so many others," As he waited the four seconds it usually required for the device to provide an accurate reading, he remembered Caitlin and Jenny, two beautiful women with their whole lives ahead of them, both dying to protect the ones they loved.

"Time of death is roughly thirty minutes ago, and according to the gunshot wound here entering through the abdomen, there is the cause of death," Palmer got down and tried to remove the bullet.

"I can't believe this happened to someone we know _again_!" Abby moaned. "I'm so sick of losing everyone I love!"

"Not everyone," McGee assured her, stroking her hair. She said nothing, still lost in the grief Ziva had yet to learn how to display openly like she did. Ziva started searching the place for any evidence, but all she could see was a trail of Kelantan's blood coming out from behind the restaurant.

"Where are you going?" Tony called, but she ignored him, tracking the blood with unnatural accuracy. It came to a sudden stop around the corner, where she assumed Kelantan had been shot. There was a partial print here, which could not possibly belong to the victim, as he had low traction tennis shoes she recognized from a store she used to shop around online, before things had gotten so complex that nobody could keep track of her life anymore. Footsteps approached her, but she remained focused on the task at hand. Ziva set to creating a cast of the footprint on the ground.

"Ziva," She had to ignore that voice, it was not good for her to allow these lies to get to her like this-

"Please…I thought I could wait, but I just can't. I love you too much to call you just my friend, or just my partner," Ziva shook her head. It was too hard to focus on work now, but the cast was nearly complete.

"Give me a chance, I promise to try not to screw it up," Now the voice had a name, and a face. She had looked at him, something not according to plan. Ziva couldn't look away from those _eyes…_she planned on refusing his offer, but instead she leaned closer, breathing in his scent. Then, for the second time that day, she kissed him, much longer and more intensely than before. Tony wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her with a gentleness she had never known from Ray. Though her insides screamed to be released at once, she tried to fight it. As the seconds ticked by, she finally pulled away and stepped back several paces, panting for air.

"No, no I can't," Ziva gasped, her eyes wide at what she had just done.

"Yes, you can," Tony said softly. "I'll help you…you just need some time…" He took her hands and pulled her towards him again.

"I can take you to see a therapist, and you can get better Ziva. Just trust me, and you'll be so much happier," She tried to get away, but this time she had no idea what she was doing. Maybe she would try trusting him, for now. And if anything went wrong, she could just escape and find someone new. But, at the moment, she couldn't imagine being with anyone else.

"Alright," Ziva whispered at last. "I will try,"

"Thank you," Tony sighed in relief. "I promise you won't regret this, not even for a second,"

**AN: Ohh! Established Tiva! And the plot thickens! Read and review, pleeeease!**


	26. Chapter 26

**AN: Well, imagine that, a fourth of July update! Thank God for independence to do stuff like this, right? Too bad I don't ACTUALLY own NCIS, then I could fix everything wrong with it. There just has to be a little romance.**

"Can you walk with us?" Ariel asked timidly. Three days had passed since that fateful night at Red Lobster. It was Ariel and Gabriel's first day of school. Ziva, Abby, and McGee were standing in the parking lot with their children. Tony could not make it since Gibbs needed him at NCIS to work on the case.

"Of course," Abby said happily. "Now, you both are in the same class, so that should be a good thing. And since you're related to us, we can call out of class for more absent days than other kids since we tend to end up in…situations that are…unpleasant," She exchanged a glance with Ziva. That was happening a lot more often lately.

"Where is the classroom?" Gabriel asked as they started walking off together.

"You'll see," Ziva responded. They went into a building with a large number 3 at the top, and the smell of paint was very fresh, combined with sixty five degree air conditioning constantly blasting through the hallway. Fourteen other children were crowded around the only locked door, looking terrified to be separated from their parents for possibly the first time ever. The teacher was running late.

"Let's go," Gabriel declared, leading Ariel over to the crowd of kindergarteners. Ziva turned and faced the agents as soon as they were gone. But Abby shook her head and followed the two children. Now was not the time for such conversation.

"Gabey, honey, are you sure you'll be alright?" Abby asked softly, bending down so she was eye to eye with her son. Ziva went to say her goodbyes to Ariel.

"Yeah, I wanna learn!" he said, bobbing his head eagerly. After a quick hug, it was time to go. A frazzled woman who looked to be in her thirties showed up, quickly trying to unlock the door.

"So sorry," she apologized. "There was some insane traffic on the way here. An accident happened on the interstate," Ziva's eyes narrowed.

"What sort of accident?" the agent questioned.

"Oh, I don't know, all I could see was a mangled mini van and an injured teenager…I noticed old NCIS plates, which was why it even caught my attention at all…why do you want to know this anyway?"

"Oh, I'm just curious," Ziva said. "What's your name?"

"Edith Rathicka,"

"Thank you, we'll be on our way then," McGee looked back and forth between the two women, wondering what Ziva was up to. They went back out to the parking lot, none of them speaking until they had each found their own car.

"What was with all that earlier?" McGee asked.

"I suspect Roger is a threat to us," was all Ziva said. _To me,_ she added mentally. "I'm going to Bethesda to see if Jamie and Shelby are alright. Who is joining me?" Abby agreed without a second thought, and McGee thought he should go, only because Abby was his ride to NCIS, since he had decided to carpool today.

"How do you know it's them?" McGee asked referring to Jamie and her daughter.

"How many people do you know still have an NCIS bumper sticker when they obviously don't wok with us?" she returned, giving him a strange look.

"I'm scared," Ariel whispered to Gabriel as her name was called. He gave her a reassuring smile.

"Just tell us your name and one thing about yourself," Mrs. Rathicka said.

"My name is Ariel and I like Disney princesses," Ariel said. A few girls in the back started whispering. Ariel went back to her seat, cheeks flaming with the effort of public speaking, something she wasn't used to at all.

"That wasn't so bad," Gabriel whispered "It was better than what I said," Mrs. Rathicka clapped her hands to get everyone's attention.

"Now that we all know each other a little bit, it's time to get learning! We are going to learn about the letter A today," She took out a stuffed animal with the letter 'A' on the front. Gabriel noticed that it was an armadillo, something his mother told him about when they spotted one in the streets one day, long ago.

"This is Mr. Aarvark, and he'll tell us about letter A," she continued. Gabriel blankly stared at it. He had only seen this letter once before. He focused on it, remembering something from a year ago or more.

"_That's your name, Gabriel," Abby said, pointing at the meaningless scribbles in front of her son. He gazed at the pencil marks with a mild interest. Then Abby started writing her own name. A, B, B…then a Y. Gabriel started paying closer attention now._

"_What's that?" He gestured to the new letters._

"_That's my name," Abby said. "See? Right there's an A, first letter of the alphabet," He gazed in wonder at the letter, finding it to be much more interesting than earlier._

"I remember this letter!" Gabriel blurted. He covered his mouth, blushing like Ariel had earlier. Sometimes he just couldn't help saying things out loud, like his mother did a lot of the time.

"Do you?" the teacher said, amused by his outburst. He nodded and clamped his lips shut, resolving not to speak again for the remainder of the day.

A while after this, it was time for something called "Rotating Electives" or something similar. Today was Day 1, which meant the elective was P.E. They had just learned how to play dodge ball and were splitting up into teams. Gabriel was team captain and so was a girl named Tracy.

"Ariel, come on down," Gabriel said. She was last to be chosen, but still chosen nonetheless. She smiled and joined him on the other side. The balls were carefully lined up by the P.E. teacher. He blew his whistle, and balls started flying from all directions. A green ball flew toward Gabriel. Ariel only had a second to act. She leapt in the path of the ball, taking the hit for him and falling to the floor, very hard.

"You saved me," Gabriel told her, astonished at her bravery.

"Don't get used to it," Ariel said, sounding a lot like her mother. She took her place where all the out kids went. She didn't even look hurt by the fall. Gabriel stared at Ariel, wondering how she could dare to be so…well, daring.

"Well, what, then?" Tony demanded into his cell phone. "You choose now of all times to try and take me back, when you know you can never have me. That is so like you, Jeanne," He angrily paced back and forth, ignoring the dirty looks from his boss and the curious ones from Ziva.

"Just…don't. No, don't even get started with me. You were the one who broke things off, so just don't. Go off and be happy with whoever you decided to be with," He snapped his phone shut and sighed.

"Women. It's amazing I learned to understand a lucky few of them," he said aloud. Ziva smirked at him and went to work. Tony gazed at her for a long moment, watching how the florescent light hit her hair which started to perfectly fall around her face, flawlessly framing the focused expression she now wore.

"Quit staring at me and get to work," Ziva said without looking at him.

"On it," Tony said quickly, sitting at his desk. When she was sure he wasn't looking, she allowed herself a small smile before getting back to work.


	27. Chapter 27

Hospitals. How Abby hated them. Though Jamie was her best friend, she was glad to leave the suffocating medicine smell, white walls, and faint sounds of screams all around. The sounds and scents of death. She shuddered and concentrated on driving for now. Traffic was starting to clear up, but she still had to skirt around cars in an attempt to find the fastest route to NCIS. As she made a turn off the interstate, Abby started to get tunnel vision. The doctor had said dizziness would happen sometimes, and this sort of thing meant driving was unsafe in the morning for the first trimester at least. She tried to ignore it, but before she could even shift her eyes back onto the road, everything slipped into blackness.

An incoming truck slammed into the hearse. Some people about to cross the street froze on the spot, stunned by what was happening. They watched in shocked silence at the poor car was almost completely crushed on impact. It flipped over three, four times, before crashing into another incoming car. Later the truck driver would have said the hearse had swerved into him, but hardly anybody would believe the guy. Someone called 911.

"That looks pretty bad," Trey said, observing the accident. He was the one who had made the call just minutes before.

"I hope whoever's in there is alright," an elderly woman said, her voice wavering with worry.

"I doubt they're even alive by the looks of all that glass and blood from here," a man noted, peering at the wreckage. Someone, possibly the driver of the hearse, stirred ever so slightly. Trey thought he could see a crown of raven hair and pale skin embedded with glass. Blood streamed out of where glass had made its home. It was a terrible sight to see. Trey, avoiding all caution, approached the terrible wreckage, in hopes this stranger was still alive. Someone wordlessly called after him, but he ignored the voice. Trey could see the injured person was a woman. Other than some scrapes, bruises, and minor cuts, she was completely fine. Yet she was definitely unconscious. The woman stirred again, her eyes half open.

"Are you alright?" he asked softly, just as the ambulance screamed onto the scene, siren blaring. The woman's eyes flew open and she looked around in confusion, then worry.

"Oh, I knew I shouldn't have driven today!" she fretted, her emerald eyes darting between her injuries and all the wreckage. Trey helped her out of the car.

"Is my car alright?" she asked anxiously. Her face fell as she saw the damage.

"It's totaled," Trey said in a somber tone. "I'm sorry. It looked like a nice one, too," The woman looked at him. Paramedics ran around, checking to see if all the victims were still alive. A blonde woman approached them.

"You seem to be the only survivor," she said. "Count yourself lucky…how did you manage to end up without a single broken bone?"

"I don't know," the other woman replied. "I passed out, and woke up to all this commotion. Maybe my car swerved just in time,"

"Hmm, that's not what this young man says," she murmured. "I heard him describe the accident, and by the sounds of things, the truck was headed right for you anyway. We'll have forensic find out what made him so careless…in the meantime, do you have insurance? Perhaps you could get your vehicle replaced."

"Yes, I do, and I can get a free replacement if I use the right words," Trey started to move away from them, starting to lose interest in all of this.

"Glad to see you're okay. What's your name, by the way?"

"It's Abby. Abby…McGee. I got married a few years ago," She flushed, looking down at her wedding ring.

"Oh, really?" the blonde said, a sly smile on her face. "I bet he's a nice man. I have to get going, Karl's about to drive off without me. Nice to meet you, Abby," She ran off toward the ambulance, bodies now cleared away. The police had arrived and were now questioning witnesses. Abby turned and looked at Trey, who was already several feet away.

"Thank you," she said, smiling a little through the pain of her injuries.

"I didn't really do much," Trey protested.

"Nonsense, you're a hero," With that, she walked off a little, pulling out her cell phone. "Hello? Tim, I'm going to need a ride…well, I sort of got into an accident. No, no, I'm fine, and the baby's fine too. How long? Okay, I'll be here waiting. It's hard to miss. The hearse is totaled. Yeah. Alright. Don't forget to pick up Gabriel from school. I'll see you later." She hung up the phone and tucked it into a case attached to her belt buckle.

"I never caught your name by the way," Her smile caught him off guard, and he was at a loss for words temporarily.

"Trey," he replied weakly. Yes, that's who he was. "Let me help you get all that glass out, before the wounds get infected," She agreed quietly, and his dark skinned fingers were soon searching every inch for slivers of glass. After a few minutes of careful work, he had a small pole of glass sitting in his hand. Trey tossed it all aside. She gave him a grateful smile, then quickly looked away. Trey noticed her smile never completely faded, but seemed permanently etched there on her face. It wasn't an unpleasant effect, rather, it made her look more approachable and loveable. Trey hoped the man she was married to treated her well, because she looked like she deserved it. He started to leave, but Abby put a hand on his shoulder.

"Could you wait with me? I know we don't know each other but…" She gave him a long, sad look. Trey could see a hidden pain in her eyes. Someone must have hurt her in the past, however long ago that might have been. A car approached them, screaming to a sudden stop. Trey winced at the squealing of tires. Abby ran up to the car, pigtails flying behind her.

"Thanks!" she yelled back at him. Trey frowned in confusion. But he hadn't done anything. Or had he? It sure looked like he had done something she liked, because she managed to turn around and wave at him really quick before getting into the car. Trey waved back then went off on his way toward the community library, thinking what had just happened wouldn't be remembered by anyone within the hour. How wrong he was…

"Ton-ee, stop," Ziva moaned, putting her head back down on the desk. She had a terrible headache, due to the fact she hadn't been getting much sleep. The nightmares were what kept her tossing and turning all night.

"Zeevah," Tony said, drawing out her name in return. "What's wrong?"

"I'm tired," she mumbled into the desk. "I want to be alone for a little while,"

"You don't seem to be sleeping well lately," Tony noted. She didn't say anything. "Is something bothering you?" Ziva shuddered, remembering Ray's coal like eyes burning like the remains of a fire. A number of things stoked those flames into something dangerous, whether it be a word, or a wrong look. The smallest spark ignited into anger blown out of proportion to whatever caused it. Much like last night, where Ray, for no reason at all, shoved her under something warm and red to the point Ziva began to choke. She woke up when she realized that it was blood. Tony started rubbing her shoulders and whispering things that she did not hear.

"I'm going with the guess that you've been having nightmares," Tony said. "I'll stay with you tonight and help you get some sleep," Ziva snapped up her head and looked at him. There were dark circles under her eyes, and she was strained with the stress of keeping everything bottled up again. She opened her mouth to protest, but new words came out instead.

"Alright, but one night," she amended. Abby walked in, looking like she had gotten in a fight with a cheese grater with all of those cuts on her face, arms, and legs.

"Hey guys," she said softly. "Don't worry, it's not as bad as it looks…my car looks worse actually," McGee came in after her.

"Turn on the news," Vance interrupted before McGee could say anything, appearing out of MTAC from a meeting with the CEO of the company Kelantan had worked for.

"Why?" Tony asked without thinking. Gibbs gave him a head slap in response.

"Don't ask, just do it," Gibbs said. Tony shrugged and pulled up a recently uploaded video of today's broadcast on the MTRC screen. A dark haired woman showed up with a paused video sitting behind her.

"An amazing story of luck today with an accident on Rock Road with only one known survivor," Everyone watched as a familiar black hearse sped down, but suddenly zigzagged a little as a semi truck approached it. The truck crashed into the hearse, and it went flipping into a second vehicle off to the side. Tony paused the video and looked at Abby in alarm.

"Keep playing it," Vance ordered, coming down the stairs to get a better view. Tony continued playing it, and recognized Roger, hastily climbing out of the semi truck, mostly unharmed. He ran off before the ambulance could arrive. A dark skinned man approached the hearse everyone knew to be Abby's car. Then the video suddenly ended.

"Get any information you can find on that guy," Vance said. "I have a feeling he caused that mess,"

"Well, from this angle, I'm lucky to have survived," Abby commented. "Though I wonder why they didn't mark me down as the survivor," Nobody had an answer to her statement.


	28. Chapter 28

"But…there's still so much we don't know," McGee said in frustration. "None of this is adding up,"

"I still think we should at least try and find Roger and see what his motives were," Abby insisted. "Then we can go from there,"

"Already tried that. Tony said the guy insists he didn't do anything to Kelantan,"

"Maybe a look alike then?" she suggested. Her back was beginning to ache, along with all her injuries from a few hours ago, but she decided it was best not to let Tim worry right now.

"And the accident?" she continued. "He denied that too?"

"He didn't deny being there, but he said that he was never in that truck," Abby was silent for a moment as she processed all of this.

"Okay," she said finally. "Two theories. Either Roger is lying…or we have an imposter on our hands," McGee nodded in agreement. From this angle, he had a perfect view of a small clock sitting on the desk in the computer room. It was almost three, meaning he needed to leave to pick up Gabriel pretty soon. At that moment, Ziva walked in, some form of curiosity forming in the woman's eyes.

"What's going on in here?" she asked, looking back and forth between them.

"I was about to leave and pick up Gabriel. You might want to do the same with Ariel," Her eyes widened. She must have forgotten that little detail.

"Ought to give Jamie a call…" Abby murmured, mostly to herself. "Heard she was going into surgery with her daughter," Ziva and McGee left, freeing her to take out her cell phone and start dialing. Unfortunately, Gibbs decided to walk in at that moment.

"Sorry Gibbs, don't have anything yet…Tim and I still are trying to put stuff together mentally, and he had to leave with Ziva because the kids are in school, you know, and it's their first day, very important, right? Well, so far all we've got is just a bunch of disconnected puzzle pieces. Not real ones! Just imaginary. Not that we're hallucinating, just an expression, Gibbs." She sucked in air before he could order her to, and continued at a much slower pace. "The point is Roger's either lying or someone else is behind this."

"I know, Abs. I'm not here about that," She gazed at him intently.

"Then why are you here?" she asked. He glanced down at her stomach. "Oh, the baby. Of course it's fine. It was a miracle for both of us to survive the accident." Gibbs shook his head. Not that. She sighed, wondering what he could possibly be thinking. She let her thoughts wander about the child in general. Gabriel wouldn't be an only child anymore. She'd probably have to take…

"Maternity leave?" Abby whispered. "But why, Gibbs? I did my job just fine the first time around,"

"You got by. That's not doing fine," She shook her head. He didn't understand. During that time she was so lost with pain of being abandoned by Ziva she could scarcely think about anything else. The pregnancy was just a minor concern then. But, now, with nothing to distract her from raising a child…maybe…but who would take her place? Gibbs read the question newly formed in her eyes. Abby didn't know what to do.

"Got it covered. You don't need to leave now."

"Thanks, Gibbs," Then he was gone. Feeling dizzy again, she sank down into a chair to clear her head. Everything felt a little hazy, far away even. She took several deep breaths, then tried standing up. The room spun a little, but not quite as severely as before. Abby went over to her mini fridge and found it stocked with sodas, iced tea, and water bottles. She grabbed a Diet Sprite and popped the can open.

"Hey, what's up?" Tony said. Abby turned to face him.

"It's a slow afternoon," she replied. "Timmy and Ziva went to go get the kids from their first day of school…I hope everything went alright. We can't afford anymore…accidents." She took a sip of her soda and looked away.

"Got a call from Jamie," Tony announced. "She's fine now, but her daughter's still in critical condition and will have to stay overnight. And so close to her birthday, too." Shelby's birthday was near the end of August, two weeks from now.

"She's there for one night, not one month," Abby rolled her eyes and set the soda can aside. Tony stole the can and drank the whole thing in one gulp. He let out a large belch and grinned at her. Abby was not amused. His goofy smile quickly faded.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Other than the fact I actually have to work reasonable hours for the sake of the baby…no," Abby admitted. Her back was _really_ starting to hurt now. It was getting more difficult to ignore. She turned away so Tony wouldn't have to see her face twisted in discomfort.

"It's only for the best," Tony pointed out. She nodded, too distracted by pain to even speak. He gave her a long, searching look. It has been a while since Abby had ever been quiet this long. She winced in pain again, wishing she had Advil or at least one of Timmy's famous massages so that she could focus on her work. This time, Tony noticed, and he was at her side in an instant.

"Hey, why don't I take you home? You've had a pretty long day…those bruises won't look any better in the morning," Abby didn't have the strength to protest, and let him take her by the arm and lead her out to his car.

"Dr. Mallard, I think I may have found something," Palmer said, examining Kelantan's body one last time.

"What is it?" the doctor asked, following his assistant's gaze.

"That," He pointed at something that had nothing to do with the defensive wounds or cause of death, something Ducky had missed entirely. Ducky's eyes widened. He leaned over to get a closer look. Underneath the fingernails was dried blood to be processed by Abby. But, mixed in with that was some silvery threadlike substance Ducky presumed to be cobwebs.

"You don't think…?" It seemed very possible that Ziva wasn't the only one who was a regular visitor to a certain underground crypt.

**AN: And the mystery intensifies! Read and review, for its all I live for! No not really. But still, ONE review would be nice.**


	29. Chapter 29

AN: There seems to be something really binding about the words "I love you" don't you think? Just a random thought I was having a moment ago before starting on this chapter.

"_What the hell do you think you're doing, letting them lie to you like this?" Ray demanded. His dark brown eyes burned like two furious embers, riled up for action. Ziva helplessly gazed at him, feeling almost magically bound to listen to his every demand._

"_Why do you insist NCIS is an enemy? It's our job to protect, not harm," Ray shook his head, staring at something Ziva couldn't see._

"_You wouldn't understand…and that's not the point! Just stay away, I don't want to lose you!"_

"_But-Tony-" she protested._

"_But nothing!" Ray yelled. "Tony's not yours and he will never be, and all because he's some player. Don't listen to his sweet talk that he uses on dozens of other girls." Her heart was beginning to shatter at this fresh piece of news. He truly…lied? Then the scene shifted, and she was alone in the crypt. Blood rained down on her face and arms as she looked up in confusion._

"_Why did you kill us?"_

"_They're lying to you!"_

"_I've always loved you…"_

"_Nobody cares,"_

_All the conflicting thoughts caused her head to hurt, and it was all getting to be too much. Where was this blood coming from? Before Ziva could make any sense of it, the scene changed again and she found herself sitting at her own desk in the all too familiar bullpen. Tony was there, kissing another girl. And she watched, feeling more alone than ever, He pulled away and looked at her._

"_I thought you said you wanted to wait…so I got back together with Jeanne."_

Ziva jolted awake, just as there was a knock at the door. Trying to forget about her dream, she opened the door and was greatly surprised to see Ducky standing there.

"May I come in?" She nodded and let him into the darkened apartment. Ziva had fallen asleep earlier, planning to take a nap but it seemed she had been asleep for quite some time. It was well past sunset now, and Ariel was playing with her Barbies in her room. The only signs of life from that room were the occasional smothered snickers that echoed faintly down the hall.

"Is something wrong?" Ziva asked cautiously, thinking of Tony.

"Palmer pointed out something very interesting in Kelantan's autopsy that I had missed entirely. There were cobwebs under his fingernails. I don't know for certain if he was in that crypt, I'll need Abby to identify it all…it's a shame that Ray is no longer alive. He has a lot of withheld information that would be useful to the case." Ziva listened to all of this in silence. Then she had a thought that interested her and terrified her at the same time.

"Maybe he's not dead," she said. "After all I never bothered to check whether his suicide was a success. Perhaps someone found him, nursed him back to health…and he could be in hiding now."

"Assuming that is true, why would Kelantan be hiding in that terrible place that has given you such nightmares?" Ziva stared at him, feeling guarded all of the sudden.

"I heard you moaning from the other side of the door." Ducky sat onto the couch Ziva had fallen asleep on just hours ago. She looked away, feeling ashamed. She was also sitting on the couch, but scarcely aware of it. Ducky took her hands, feeling sorry that this woman had to still go through all of this undeserved suffering.

"It's only natural, my dear, that you would be going through such night terrors after all you have suffered so far," he said softly. Ziva switched her gaze back to him, and was comforted by his kind sky blue eyes, not nearly intense as someone else's…Tony. Oh, God. Tony. What if her dream had come true and he was-she shook her head furiously. Where do these thoughts come from?

"So, we should investigate the crypt with Abby tomorrow," Ziva decided finally, changing the subject. She gently pulled her hands away from him and laid them in her lap.

"Are you alright?" The question almost made her burst into tears, but she swallowed the lump in her throat with difficulty.

"I…I will be," she said honestly. Ducky gave her a small smile of encouragement.

"You are one of the most strong willed people I know, Ziva. You'll find a way to pick yourself up again and come out a better person than you were five years ago."

"Thank you, Ducky. That means a lot to me." Ariel came out, holding a Ken doll in one hand and a Barbie doll in the other.

"Mommy, my friend at school was telling me how babies were made!" she exclaimed. Ziva and Ducky exchanged a glance.

"Really?" Ziva said, thinking that this could not end well at all.

"Yeah, he said when a mommy and daddy love each other very much, they go somewhere special and-"

"I think it's time for you to get to bed," Ziva said a little too loudly, cutting off Ariel's eager chatter at once.

"I best get going as well, Ziva," Ducky said, heading for the door.

"See you tomorrow, then," He smiled and left the apartment. Ariel barely glanced at him.

"Can I take a bath tonight? With bubbles? And can I do it all by myself?" Ariel's questions came tumbling out one after another, leaving Ziva no room to reply until she stopped to breathe.

"Of course, just be careful. Call for me if you need help," Ariel ran out of the room, her grin hidden by the shrouded darkness of the apartment.

Waiting…always waiting. But the time had come to make himself known to them again. He remained crouched in his hiding spot. It was cramped here, but he wasn't about to move. The risk was too high. And the Voice instructed that this was necessary to the plan. Always…always the plan. The plan was important. The door banged open. Ariel stepped into the bathroom, still in her clothes. Just a few more seconds…she closed the door and locked it. Perfect. He eyed the window which lead to the outside. He was lucky that Ziva decided to have a place with a good view. His gaze flickered back to the girl, who was starting up a bath at the moment. He tumbled out from under the sink cabinet, needle hidden in his pocket. The Voice said it had made a mistake in letting Ziva go. It helped him live, knowing he still needed some things to get done before he expired for real. Ariel did not turn, too lost in her own little world. The shadowy figure crept up behind her, needle in hand now. Ariel turned off the water. The needle plunged into soft skin. Ariel let out a cry of pain and crumpled to the floor, half landing into the tub. Water splashed onto cream colored tiles, nearly getting him wet. The unknown figure leapt up and crawled out the window, needle forgotten. It was only mistake in the plan. Ray scampered off into the night. Deed completed, all he had to do was resume his waiting.


	30. Chapter 30

Ray realized he made more than just one mistake. He was supposed to have taken Ariel with him. _You fool. Now I will have to take over once again. The enemy will suspect. Go into hiding, find Roger. He knows what he is doing, unlike you. He's eliminated someone who tried to spread the lies of NCIS._

"But...maybe Ziva is right," Ray murmured. To anyone watching him, they'd see a man talking to himself. But Ray saw a man standing before him, more real than anything else in his life, particularly his father, who had been nothing more than a shadow and a whisper, always in the background. But not Rolex. He was gaining strength by the day now, and was almost a completely visible human being. He was more of a shimmery form as of today, but his voice was clear as crystal whether out loud or in Ray's head.

_Okay. Roger is right there. He knows our secret, but do no let it trouble you if he does not understand. Talk to him now and I'll let you know what our next move is._

"Ray, you're alive!" Roger shrieked.

"Shh, you want the whole street to know?" Ray growled, speaking to someone besides Rolex for the first time since he 'died.' The fake suicide was just a cover up so he could continue working in the shadows, where he felt most comfortable.

"Right, right, sorry, it's just that Tony told me you were dead-"

"Shut up for a second! There's not much time! The child is about to be discovered...they'll know something was done. Do whatever it takes to keep the antidote safe. It's our barganing chip." Roger nodded, keeping his face turned away from Ray. Were anyone to know his true identity, well, that would be more than a minor inconvenience.

"I...well, we are co-partners, right?" he stammered.

"Of course."

"And we have each other's backs, right?"

"Yes."

"Keep one another's secrets?"

"Always,"

"Alright, then. That's good, very good. Ought to tell you why I've never shown you my face, spoken to you in the dark, things of that nature. Well, to NCIS, I'm supposed to be dead."

"Same here," Ray said with an unconcerned shrug. "So, who are you really?"

"Can't reveal that yet. But if this mission goes well, I'll compensate by showing you my face,"

Meanwhile, in Ziva's apartment, it was deathly quiet. Ariel stirred slightly, wondering why her neck hurt. She pulled out the needle fearlessly and got to her feet. She decided to take the bath now before her mother came in. The water was cold but she did not mind. Ariel thought about when she was last awake. She had sensed something behind her, and then there was a great pain, follwed by nothing. What did this all mean? Why was this needle here? Was this the thing which had caused her to be asleep for some time when all she had wanted was a bubble bath? She gazed at the strange object, then tossed it aside and reached for the shampoo. Mysteries were tough to figure out. Besides, she had school tomorrow. Now, did she finish her homework? Ariel smiled happily at the day's events, quickly forgetting the possibility that she might be in terrible danger.

Ziva looked up to see Ariel standing there in her pajamas, her hair damp and nicely brushed. Perhaps that noise had been her imagination...Ziva set the book aside.

"Did you have a nice bath?" Ariel nodded, but her eyes told Ziva something else entirely. Something had happened. There was a fresh mark on her neck, like a needle had been injected in that very spot. It didn't seem to cause her any concern, though.

"What happened here?" Ziva asked, examining the puncture wound more closely.

"I don't know," Ariel murmured, keeping her eyes on the floor. After a minute, Ziva thought it was probably a bug bite and put her daughter to bed without considering the strange mark any longer.

Abby tossed and turned. She was exhausted but couldn't get to sleep. Beside her, McGee slept peacefully on, unaware of her insomia. Left side, right side, back, stomach, repeat. This went on for what felt like hours. Finally, it was clear that she wasn't getting any sleep tonight. This usually happened whenever she had a feeling something had happened to one of her friends. Right now, she felt like it was best to call Ziva and see if everything was alright there. It was sometimes better to have a second opinion.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Ziva,"

"I was just putting Ariel to bed...it's nearly eleven, well past her bedtime..." So Abby had only beed trying to fall asleep for the past hour or so. She left the room, remembering that someone else was in the room, already having a peaceful night's rest.

"How's it going?" Abby asked uncertainly. "I know you still have a hard time trusting people, showing you need help and showing your emotions, but is it all going well for you now that you have Tony to be there?" A slight pause...for a moment she was worried none of this was true, and Ziva was still suffocated with the pain, all alone, refusing help as she had with Ducky despite the fact she needed it.

"Yes, of course. It is still hard. But that does not mean it cannot be done,"

"That's the Ziva I know and love! So, I had a hard time sleeping...and thought it best to call, just in case,"

"One of those gut feelings again?" Ziva asked.

"Big time, Ziva. Just-try to stay safe for me, okay? Kelantan-Kelantan...oh God. I still can't believe I watched him die like that. He wanted to tell me something important, I know it. But he couldn't. Now I'll never know," Ziva was quiet the whole time, letting her friend ramble on and sort out her thoughts.

"I am sure we will figure this out soon," Ziva said.

"Well, that's our job, isn't it?" Abby half laughed. "Figure out the mysteries the people of this world are too damn stupid to solve or hide well enough for my expertise,"

"Very trie, you are the best forensic specialist I know," The compliment pleased Abby so much that she could hardly find any words to say for the next several moments.

"I've never heard you say that before! Thank you!" The gratitude was positively gushing in her voice, and Ziva knew she had said the right thing.

"No need to worry as long as you are around, yes? Now, I hope you can sleep well since you know both Ariel and I are safe and sound,"

"See you tomorrow after we drop off the kids," Abby crawled into bed and slept soundly the rest of the night.

**AN: That was just the perfect place to stop. I got my laptop today, so the updates are sure to be pouring in. Read and review, pretty please! It would mean more to me than what Caf-Pow! means to Abby. And that's saying something, am I right?**


	31. Chapter 31

Ariel woke up gasping for air, feeling very strange. She got ready for school more slowly than yesterday, wondering what her dream had been about. It didn't seem to matter, though, once she was already at school and heading for her classroom.

"Ariel, honey, you've been so quiet. Are you alright?" Ziva felt her forehead. Ariel was a little warm, though it was cold in the hallway. Ariel blankly stared at her mother.

"Maybe I should take you home-"

"No!" the girl cried out. "Gabriel will miss me too much! I want to go to school!"

"Alright, let's go then...but promise me to go to the clinic if your fever gets too high," Ziva turned away and walked out, knowing her daughter would be fine in the classroom. Then she remembered Abby's sleeplessness last night, and wondered if there was a connection between Abby's gut feeling and Ariel's sudden fever.

"How much longer until the symptoms take effect?" Roger asked.

"Not long now," Ray replied. Roger, well, the guy who called himself by that name, smiled in the darkness. Not even that bastard Gibbs knew he was still alive. What a shock they'll all get. But now was not the time to reveal himself. All in good time...just when they thought their lives were perfect and all their problems were solved, he'll appear and makes things worse than ever.

"Keep me posted. By the way, you have been keeping secrets of your own..."

"I believe you know what I have to say to that," Ray interrupted. "I'll be on my way. Can't give you updates if our quarry is miles away from here, am I right?" Ray thought he heard a sigh in response.

"Go. I want results of this poisoning in one hour's time." He felt the other presence disappear, instantly replaced by another.

_This Roger fellow is keeping a much more severe secret than I thought. I am not sure whether he can be trusted. Keep a close eye on him._

"Why do you insist NCIS is the enemy?" Ray asked heavily.

_Because, not only do they have Ziva, whom you love very much, but they are ruthless, heartless, and do not care for special cases like me. They'd lock you up without bothering to understand your situation. Your childhood, your past to be more specific, is of no concern to them. All they care is keeping their own safe. Nothing else. Even if you 'swtich sides' so to speak it would not change a thing. My existence would make them turn against you more than ever. I'd be taken away, your sole companion all these years._

"No!" Ray wailed. "I can't let this happen!" He ran off to his car and started driving toward the school, a plan already starting to form.

"So, if Mr. Aardvark taught us letter A yesterday, who out of these three friends will show us all there is to know about the letter B?" the teacher asked cheerfully. A boa, a dog, and a zebra were laid on the desk. Ariel studied them carefully. Gabriel looked very confused, while her friend Tracy was passing notes with Hannah. Ariel raised her hand.

"Yes, Ariel?"

"Is it Mrs. Boa?" she asked timidly, having just noticed that the creature was wearing a pink bow on its head. It was getting a little hot in here, making it hard to focus clearly.

"That's right!" Mrs Rathicka said brightly. "Now, for review, the first letter is...what, class?"

"A!" everyone shouted.

"Can someone come to the board and show me what it looks like, written nice and big?" Gabriel bravely stepped forward and wrote a large, neat letter A on the white board with a brand new black Expo marker. The scent of the ink made Ariel feel dizzy. Or was the room already spinning? It was hard to tell. She struggled to focus on today's lesson. Only five minutes until recess, then she could escape and figure out what this was.

"Very good, Gabriel. Now try the letter B, right here." He smiled at the teacher and wrote a very messy, but readable, copy of the new letter.

"Well, it will need some work. I'll let you all go to recess early since you have been so good. And since the kindergarten playground is still under construction the remainder of the year, you can go to the big playground." Ariel brightened up a little at the prospect of having more room playing freeze tag with her friends. Everyone started to file out. Gabriel waited by the doorway for her.

"Ready to go play?" he asked. Ariel got up, and suddenly the room spun more than ever. She felt very hot. Gabriel held her steady. Mrs. Rathicka looked over at them.

"I...don't feel very well," Ariel whispered. She sank to the floor at Gabriel's feet. The teacher felt her forehead. She was burning up.

"What happened?" Gabirel asked nervously, trying to wake up his friend.

"I'll go get the nurse. You keep Ariel company. She seems to have a fever and I need to find out what caused it." The teacher scurried out of the room, a flurry of brunette curls and formal skirts.

"Edith, what is the trouble?" Ronald Freidman asked, leading his fourth grade class to building two on the way back from lunch.

"One of my students had fainted and I am searching for the nurse. Could you find her for me? I'm just not good with these kind of emergencies."

"Go ahead to the classroom. Here's the key, Rigel." The students moved off down the hall to the classroom, but not before a small weedy boy with stringy hair took a ring of keys from Mr. Freidman.

"What happened?" he said as soon as his students were gone.

"I'm not sure...I should have paid closer attention. Her mother works with NCIS, though...perhaps I can get a hold of her." Mr. Freidman shook his head.

"Don't bother doing that. I hear agencies are hard to contact these days. Let me take a look at this child you speak of. I was raised by doctors, you know." They went into the room, where Gabriel was sotly singing to Ariel as he tried to keep her cooled down with ice cubes from the freezer.

"How sweet." Mr. Freidman commented, smiling a little. Gabriel stopped singing and looked up at the visitor.

"Ariel feels very hot." Gabriel said. "She won't wake up...do you know what's wrong with her?"

"Let me take a look, son, and we will find out."

"No need for that." Ray called out, stepping into the room. "I was authorized to take her home. Ziva knows me, all you'll have to do is mention my name and she will understand." He scooped up Ariel in his arms and left. Mr. Freidman couched and made a hasty exit, mumbling an incoherent apology on the way out.

"No, she's gone!" Gabirel sobbed. "I'll never see her again! Ray is a bad man!"

"He is?" Mrs Rathicka asked. "But he says he is a friend of Ziva's, why would he lie?"

"Because he is a bad, bad person! Ariel told me all about him!" Gabriel seemed unable to tell her anything more, his distress had gotten in the way so much.

"We'll figure this out...now, recess should be over soon, so let's go get the others, okay? I'll give Ziva a call after lunch and see what can be done." Gabriel sniffled and nodded. He seemed reassured by this and made to follow his teacher out of the empty classroom.

"Got the kid." Ray said into the reciever. "Commencing a call to NCIS with our agreed demands."

"Good. I am very glad we have become partners these past weeks. You are easy to trust, unlike most people I have come across in my life."

"I think it is time you told me who you are, exactly, and what you have against NCIS."

"Let's just say someone made an attempt on my life and I'm back for a little sweet revenge against old Leory Jethro Gibbs."

"Could you be a little more specific?" Ray asked.

"Ever heard of Agent Caitlin Todd?"

**AN: Hehehe...I bet you know who 'Roger' is now.**


	32. Chapter 32

**Alaska McGee: SHHH! Don't ruin it for the clueless ones(no offense)! ;)**

**Sometimes I'm amazed at my own cleverness, looking back on previuos chapters I think you know what I mean, fellow fanfiction readers/writers.**

Ziva felt a sudden jolt from somewhere inside her, sitting there in Abby's lab on what she thought would be a perfectly average day.

"Something wrong, Ziva?" Abby asked, sensing her friend was being quieter than usual.

"I just have a hinky sort of feeling..."

"Can't be worse than what I had earlier," Abby sang out, referring to her morning sickness. Ziva did not return the smile spreading across the forensic specialist's face.

"It's sort of like how you felt last night." Comprehension quickly replaced the pleasure, like switching channels on a TV.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Ziva nodded. They stood up and ran out of the lab, a destination in mind.

Gabriel sat in the lunchroom, feeling completely alone. Tracy tried to cheer him up, without much success.

"Just stop it," Gabriel mumbled. "I'm not in the mood, okay?"

"Well, what's wrong, then?" Tracy demanded.

"Ariel got kidnapped and it's all my fault! Don't you notice she's gone?" Tracy blinked, startled by his sudden outburst. Gabriel looked away, feeling ashamed of himself for losing his temper like that.

"Is there a problem?" Mrs. Rathicka asked, coming in to take her class out of the lunch room; they were running late again.

"Gabey's yelling at Tracy about Ariel being gone!" Hannah exclaimed. "Is it really true? Will she never come back?" Edith Rathicka stopped in her tracks by the double doors, her class not far behind.

"Well? Is it?" Tyler demanded from the very back.

"It...is possible," Edith admitted reluctantly. "But that does not mean I will not try to get her back with us." She strode to building three with confidence and a sudden realization that children were a lot smarter than given credit for. She was surprised to see Agent Ziva standing there with the Goth scientist from yesterday, both looking anxious in varying degrees.

"Do you have information on my daughter?" Ziva asked.

"I'm sorry, she is not here. A man who says he knew you picked her up after she got a major fever in my class today." Ziva and the other woman exhanged a fearful glance.

"That man was not to be trusted. In fact, he was thought to be dead to everyone in NCIS. When did he leave?"

"A little over an hour ago," Edith felt extremely guilty for not doing something sooner. She should have called. She should have taken charge. But that no longer seemed like her role in this simple world of teaching the alphabet and basic writing skills. There were only so many things under her control, and this kidnapping was not one of them.

"Thank you, your information has been most helpful to us," Ziva said with a smile. "Do not worry, we will have Ariel back here before you know it."

"Gabriel, honey, do you want to come home early?" Abby asked her son, who was currently carrying on a whispered argument with a blond girl who appeared to be from an upper middle class family according to her attire and mannerisms. She frequently flipped her hair when frustrated, and that seemed to be often.

"Gabey, I don't care about _Ninja Turtles_!" the girl huffed.

"What about the movie?" Gabriel asked. Abby decided it was best to leave him alone.

"Let's go, Ziva," she declared. "I think I know where Ray took her," They left together, side by side.

Ariel woke up feeling groggy and much too hot. It was very dark in here. She couldn't see a thing. Where was she? She vaguely remembered being carried, and a possible long, stuffy car ride. But nothing after that. She coughed, trying to get a mental visual of her surroundings by feeling things around her. A large bed...she tried crawling off but there was a loud clink, and she was yanked back to the head board. Ariel realized she was chained to this bed. Tears stung her eyes. What was happening? Why was it so dark? She coughed again and again. Sleep seemed like a much better alternative than whatever this was. Ariel quickly sccumbed to unconcsiousness, grateful to not deal with the ice cold metal chains and too soft bed any longer.

Ray remained cramped in his hiding spot, waiting for the perfect moment. Arie's symptoms were still mild, so there was still a little time left to come up with his demands. What were they again? Oh yes, exchange the antidote for Ziva. Then things would be how they were before.

_They know she is gone, they know where you are, act fast!_ Rolex hissed in his ear. Ray leapt to his feet, prepared for a fight. But nobody came running down the stairs. He sighed, temporarily letting his gaurd down.

"Give me the antidote," 'Roger' suggested. "That way you can say you don't have it after the agreements are made. Ariel is not factor once she is dead," Ray handed him a small pouch filled with white powder.

"So...Ari is it?" Ray asked casually as they left the crypt to secure the upper area for the arrival of NCIS agents.

"Huh?"

"Your real name. Is it Ari?" 'Roger' looked at him but not completely straight on.

"Yes, yes it is."

"Who tried to kill you?"

"Ziva, my half sister," Ray thought it best to not ask anymore questions after that.

_They are here! Move, move, move!_

"They're here," Ray murmured to his partner. Ari nodded and stuffed the antidote into his pocket.

"Alright, I'll go first," Ziva whispered. She went inside, trying to ignore her increasing heartrate and the fact that she actually felt scared.

"Hello, dearest sister. Remember me?"

Abby heard a scream from inside. She ran in there to see someone that she thought was long dead, long forgotten. And yet it seemed to explain everything.

"Ari," she said in a choked whisper. Ziva seemed unable to speak.

"Ah, but that's not all," he smirked at them as Ray appeared behind him.

"Man, people just don't die like they used to," Abby commented. If Ziva hadn't been so shocked and terrified she would have laughed at her statement.


	33. Chapter 33

**AN: I can see you guys are just BEGGING for a new chapter. So, as you can see...I'm making everyone happy by doing this. I feel accomplished, and you readers have something to...er...read. We are nearing the conclusion...sequel to be coming soon, called Darkest Demon III: McGee. Give me some ideas for this one, because I haven't got anything yet. Any suggestions are welcome, including hallucinations about penguins and unicorns. Though that sort of thing is highly unlikely. I hope you knew that BEFORE I suggested, but you just never know with some people...anyway, on with the story...**

"Where's my daughter?" Ziva growled, getting over the shock of seeing both Ari and Ray in front of her.

"Safe," Ray promised. "But for now, let's talk. Remember...the teacher at that school said Ariel came down with a fever. We have a way to make her well again. But, in return, I want you here, Ziva." Abby stared at them in horror. Saving a life, but kidnapping another? She quickly went through ways to start a fire. Gasoline...bottle of chamagne...match...it would be simple. But how would she get the supplies here? More importantly, how would she get Ariel out in time? She pulled out her phone and sent Tony a quick message, being careful that Ari and Ray were focused on Ziva instead of her.

**Come bring champange matches gasoline start fire gooooo** **to crypt now hurry they might find out the plan**

Ariel was coughing so much that she couldn't get to sleep. It was constant, throat-aching coughs that took all the breath out of her small lungs. She thought of Gabriel, who was probably worried about her right now, and also knew nothing of this terrible...strangeness that was going on. Ariel gasped, trying to get enough strength in order to get free. But as she did so, another symptom had begun to develop. Pain like fire swept through her limbs, and Ariel was startled into stillness once more.

**abby i got the stuff and im headed right over, mcgee is with me, he will get the kid out**

_**wait...toneee i need to get antidote tell him to get antidote**_

"Of course, if that is what you want," Ziva was saying. "I shall stay but do not expect me to be happy about this arrangement. You two are such terrible hostages..."

"Oh, are we really that terrible?" Ari asked, still smirking at the two girls. Somehow he hadn't noticed a phone being replaced into a pocket.

"Yes," Ziva said simply. "Take a look at yourselves and find one intolertable quality that is highly noticeble to us," Ray rolled his eyes.

"Of course we should shut her up!" he said to nobody in particular. "I'm coming up with a plan right now,"

"Not a good time for you to suddenly go crazy," Ari told him. "I thought you had it under control,"

"Silence!" Ray shrieked. "Rolex is in charge around here, and if you don't listen to him you're all gonna-" Abby and Ziva were staring at him.

"I'm not making any more sense of this than you are." Ari said. "Now, while Mr. Crazy here gets control of his little voices, why don't you come with me so we can make our...arrangements?"

"Make it stop," Ariel croaked weakly. She was losing strength, and fast. Being only a child, the poison was much more intense and fast acting than it would have been on an adult with the same dosage. McGee quickly unchained her just as she lost consciousness again. He glanced at his phone, and realized that Ariel still hadn't been given the antidote. Given how much time had passed, they needed to act soon.

"I...don't think this is what I had in mind," Ziva said awkwardly in the dark closet.

"Nonesense, it'll all be over soon. And then it'll be Ray's turn...I think he still wants a son...Ariel was a terrible mistake, wasn't she?"

"This is not right!" Ziva said indigantly. "You are my brother, you are supposed to protect me from situations like this."

"Morals, shmorals," he sneered. "Just pretend I'm one of those boyfriends from Israel," Ziva shoved him against the wall and ran off. Part one of mission complete. Now to get this to Ariel...she carefully made sure none of the powder had fallen out of the pouch. Down in the crypt, Ariel was dying. Ziva tossed the pouch to McGee and ran back out. Abby was currently waiting outside with Tony, fire starting supplies all set to go. Ray was currently on the floor of the living room, rocking back and forth and muttering random phrases to himself. He had finally lost his mind, officially. Too bad he was about to die. Ziva went outside, closely followed by McGee, who was trying to get Ariel to breathe in the powder while carrying her at the same time. It was no easy task for him.

"Do it," Abby said to Tony. He grinned at her and started pouring gasoline all around the house, making sure to get the front stoop as much as possible. Then he threw the chamagne at the stoop, followed by his lit match. The effect was instantaneous. Fire greedily licked at the wood and moved to another part of the house within minutes. They watched the whole place go up in flames. It only took a total of thirty minutes for it to become nothing more than charred remains.

"Abby, remove all the forensic evidence," Tony ordered. "I want no trace of NCIS getting involved,"

"Yessir!" She saluted him, pulled on white gloves, and ran off to the burnt up house. Meanwhile, Ariel was beginning to show some signs of life. McGee, having run out of powder, had nothing left to do but wait for her to wake up. Tony motioned to Ziva and she follwed him over to the car.

"Hey, you doing okay?" Ziva thought about it for a minute. The terrible voice that was Ray had been fading away more and more by the day. She found that maybe, perhaps, she could trust him. It was becoming more possible all the time now. He was kind and patient, understanding her situation completely. He was willing to wait. But did she want to wait? In the beginning, yes, definitely, but now that some time had passed, maybe she wanted things to move along...

"I am better than before," she told him honestly. "I do not think it will be difficult to trust you now," Tony smiled at her.

"Well, that's good, then. Let's go celebrate somewhere, just you and me," Ziva found that this sounded wonderful to her. She turned and saw Abby chasing McGee around with a broken champagne bottle. Ariel was on the ground, half awake but intently watching the two goof around.

"Can you believe that less than a year ago I was in another country," Ziva murmured, leaning against his arm.

"No," Tony whispered. "I can't. I also can hardly believe that you actually missed me so much,"

"I've always loved you as well," Ziva told him. "Perhaps the time apart finally got us to realize it,"

"Yeah, maybe," he replied vaguely.

**AN: AND...one more chapter! I know it looks completed, but there's one last thing to wrap up...hint, hint! Anyway, I got the champagne fire thing from Secret Window, starring the wonderous Johnny Depp. I don't know if I did it right, but I tried my best. Anyway, only one chapter left to go...this kind of makes me sad, as this is my longest, best story ever! But my stories are getting better all the time. So, maybe one day I'll make one that is so awesome it'll seem like this one was made by a novice. Thank you for all the reviews so far. It has been an amazing time seeing everyone's reactions and speculations.**


	34. Chapter 34

**AN: We have reached the final chapter! Do not worry, for this does not mean the end of my series just yet. We still have one about good old McGee to do...I'd like some ideas for that one if you don't mind.**

**Anyway, I appreciate all the reviews. They mean a lot, you know. On to the conclusion of the second fanfic in my Darkest Demon series...**

_Ten days later..._

"Tell me."

"No."

"Just tell me where we're going!"

"No."

"Please?"

"No, it's a surprise, Abby."

"Come on, I've had this blindfold on for ages!" Abby tugged at the offending piece of cloth, but McGee grabbed her hands before she could take it off.

"Come on, just a bit further," McGee coaxed. Abby sighed and let her husband pull her along once more. Finally, after a a few more minutes of walking, he removed the blindfold. Abby found herself looking at a sleek, black car much more advanced than the functional vehicle she was used to driving up until the accident some time ago.

"Oh, Timmy," she breathed. "It's wonderful, but you didn't have to-"

"Shh, don't ruin the moment," McGee whispered in her ear. "You needed a new car anyway." Abby twisted around and kissed him firmly on the lips.

"I'll take that as a thank you," he said once he could breathe. She smiled and pulled him closer to her. Hand in hand, they went back into the bullpen. Tony quickly stood up, his face bright red. Ziva smiled at the married couple from her desk chair.

"Hey, what did we miss?" Abby asked.

"I'm saying yes anyway," Ziva said. Tony grinned and pulled her up. "You have a day in mind?"

"I was hoping we could just use some themes from my top ten films."

"Oooh, a wedding, how exciting!" Abby squealed.

"Where's Gabriel and Ariel?" McGee asked.

"Down in the lab," Gibbs interjected, appearing in the bullpen. "Isn't today a school day for them?"

"School's been over for three hours," McGee said. "It ended at 1530 this afternoon." Gibbs glanced at his watch and frowned.

"Really? That's the best you've got?" Ziva's eyes narrowed.

"Unless you have better," Tony grumbled in a surly tone. "I spent half the night trying to come up with really great movies and everything!" Abby and McGee quietly left the bullpen to give the newly engaged couple some privacy for their 'discussion' on the wedding plans.

"Oh, don't give me that look! It took us hours to convince you to wear white." McGee said.

"That's not what I'm thinking about," Abby mumbled.

"What, then?"

"Since we will have two kids soon...shouldn't we look for a bigger house?"

_Meanwhile, in Abby's lab..._

"What happened to the bad man, then?" Gabriel asked. Ariel looked up.

"Mommy says he is gone forever," Ariel confimed, nodding at her coloring book as if it were a witness to these events.

"So, no more bad things will happen?"

"Nope!" She smiled at him. "Now we can talk about the field trip to the zoo!"

"Can we sit together on the bus?" Gabriel asked shyly.

"Of course. Tracy wanted us to site together but I told her unless she had an interest in all these people in the coloring book there was no point."

"Why?"

"Because I like Disney, but nobody ever want to talk about it. Everyone else likes Nick Jr."

"My favorite character is Pluto."

"I like Minnie the most...but Mickey and Donald and Goofy are fun too. Look, I finished coloring Ariel's hair. I like her because she has the same name as me." Ariel showed Gabriel the mermaid picture.

"Come on, kids," McGee said, showing up in the lab with Abby. "It's almost time to go home."

_Bullpen_

"Alright, we can do _something_ from one film, but one only!" Ziva said. Tony grinned and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

"Good, so I'll do your favorite and we can all be happy."

"And that is why I love you," Ziva murmured.

"Really? Because of my fascination of films?" The agent blushed. She had said the words without thinking. In the brief silence, she listened for any signs of the monster that caused her to resist any trust from all those weeks ago. All that she heard was silence. So, feeling a smile creep up, she leaned closer to him.

"No...because of everything about you," she recovered smoothly. The longer Ziva was with him the easier it was for her to accept the truth that NCIS was her true home. And she hoped all of that would remain so for a long, long time. Abby and McGee appeared with Ariel and Gabriel, who were having a whispered conversation off to the side.

"You don't believe the rumor that girls have cooties?" Gabriel whispered loudly. Ariel sighed in frustration.

"No, because cooties are little invisible butterflies that grant wishes, not very bad germs!" Ariel insisted.

"Who told you that?" Gabriel asked, forgetting to whisper.

"My mom did yesterday before school started." Their conversation turned down to whispers again. sounding more like an argument now.

"Gibbs, did you see my new-" Abby started.

"Nice car, Abs," Gibbs interrupted from his desk.

"But-he-I..." McGee spluttered.

"Saw it before you came out with Abby." Gibbs explained simply. Ducky walked into the bullpen, looking a little frazzled.

"I have figured out who the imposter Ray is in my vault," the ME announced loudly.

"Not now, Duck," Gibbs said. "I'll be down later." Ducky left, looking slightly disappointed.

"I'm clausterphobic in here!" Abby declared, turning to leave the bullpen as well. McGee quickly followed.

"What is it with these American idioms?" Ziva asked aloud.

"No, Ziv, clausterphobic means afraid of tight, enclosed spaces." Tony told her.

"Yes, but the bullpen is quite large." Ziva argued.

"I see what you mean. People say that when it gets too crowded for their liking, and-"

"Don't bother explaining it," Ziva cut in. "I shouldn't have said anything." Tony just laughed and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"I love you, mixed up English and all," he said happily.

"I love you too, Tony," Ziva murmured in reply. Gibbs glanced up at them, happy to see they were finally getting along for once. Then he cut his gaze over to the children, where he found a major surprise.

"I dare you to kiss me, then!" Ariel decalared. "Then we'll see who has the cooties!" Gabriel smirked, as if he had wanted this to happen all along.

"Fine, then, if that is what you want." He leaned over and pecked her on the cheek. Ariel stared at him in surprise. Gibbs felt a small smile spread across his face. Ah, love...what was there to be done about it? He went back to work, still smiling; an expression that was barely visible to the naked eye. Being obvious was not one of his preferences, unlike boastful Tony currently droning on and on about his upcoming wedding. Sometimes he wondered if the team eve knew Rule 12 even existed. Then Gibbs realized the same outcome would have happened regardless of Rule 12. Nobody appeared to care one way or the other. Gibbs thought it best to just let fate happen and just quit making rules trying to prevent such a thing from following through.

Sarah McGee glanced at her phone for any messages. None as of yet. She plugged it into the charger and left the room, planning to watch a movie that night since she had no plans. Quickly, missed calls began to stack up as the night went on, but not all were from the same person. One was from someone she should have listened to. One was from someone she cared about. One was from someone she no longer cared for. And one was from McGee, who sometimes was all three. Sarah finally reentered the room and looked through her missed calls, but too late. A dark shadow closed in on her, silencing the scream that would have surfaced had she known she wasn't alone in the house the past few minutes.

**AN: Okay, we have reached the end here. Decided to do a little forshadowing so the next one would flow in smoothly. Anyway, once again, thanks a ton for all of the reviews. Until next time, my friends...**


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